High pressure capillary rheometry of polymeric fluids

Coal and plastic waste co-pyrolysis by thermal analysis–mass spectrometry

Study of microplastics with semicrystalline and amorphous structure identification by TGA and DSC.

Volatile organic compounds as fingerprints for identifying marine plastics.

Pyrolysis of common plastics and their mixtures to produce valuable petroleum-like products

Uji kaji ini dijalankan untuk mengkaji sifat fizikal dan terma bagi formulasi campuran polietilina berangkai silang gred acuan putaran berasaskan kebolehprosesan. High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) gred acuan putaran dicampur dengan pelbagai komposisi HDPE dan Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) menggunakan penyemperit skru pendua. Indeks Aliran Lebur (MI) campuran dikaji berasaskan ASTM D 1238. Komposisi campuran tersebut disambung silang secara kimia dengan agen penyambung silang silane menggunakan 'two roll mill’. Kemudian sambung silang lembapan dilakukan di dalam water bath selama 4 jam dan 8 jam. Kandungan gel diukur mengikut ASTM D 2765 bagi menentukan darjah penyambungan silang. Bagi analisis terma,hanya sampel yang disambung silang dengan 2.0 phr agen penyambung silang silane dikaji dengan Kalorimetri Pengimbasan Pembeza (DSC) berdasarkan ASTM 3417. Ujian kestabilan terma bagi XLPE silane dilakukan dengan menggunakan Penganalisa Termogravimetri (TGA) mengikut ASTM D 3850. Keputusan bagi Indeks Aliran Lebur (MI) menunjukkan campuran antara HDPE gred acuan putaran dengan HDPE lebih tinggi berbanding LDPE, dengan itu menambahbaik kebolehprosesan bahan. Ketumpatan campuran antara HDPE gred acuan putaran HDPE meningkat sedikit manakala campuran dengan LDPE menurun sedikit. Sampel yang dicampur dengan HDPE tidak menunjukkan perubahan bagi suhu lebur, Tm manakala darjah penghabluran, Xc, mengalami penurunan. Sampel campuran dengan LDPE pula, Tm dan Xc menurun dengan bertambahnya komposisi LDPE menunjuk kepada kebolehprosesan yang lebih baik. Kandungan gel meningkat dengan penambahan kepekatan silane dan tidak bergantung kepada komposisi campuran. Masa pengawetan yang lebih panjang menghasilkan nilai gel yang tinggi. Kestabilan terma PE yang dirangkai silang lebih tinggi berbanding HDPE yang tidak dirangkai silang. Oleh yang demikian, penyambungan silang secara silane menambahkan kestabilan campuran. Kata kunci: HDPE rangkai silang silane, acuan putaran, sifat fizikal, sifat terma dan kebolehprosesan This study is aimed at investigating the physical and thermal properties of the modified rotational molding grade cross-linked polyethylene compound with respect to process ability. Rotational molding grade High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) was blended at various compositions with HDPE and Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) using twin screw extruder. The melt index of the blends was studied according to ASTM D 1238. The blended compositions were chemically cross-linked with various amount of silane cross-linking agent using two roll-mill. Water curing was then undertaken at 100C in water bath for 4 and 8 hours. Gel content was measured according to ASTM D 2765 to determine the degree of cross-linking. For thermal analysis, only samples crosslinked with 2.0 phr silane cross-linking agent were investigated on the Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) according to ASTM D 3417. The thermal stability test of the silane Crosslinkable Polyethylene (XLPE) was performed by Thermogravimetric Analyzer (TGA) according to ASTM D 3850. Results on melt index (MI) indicated that the rotational molding grade HDPE blended with HDPE showed higher MI compared to that with LDPE thus improved process ability. The density of rotational molding grade HDPE with HDPE was slightly increased whereas that blended with LDPE was slightly decreased. Samples blended with HDPE, melting temperature, Tm, barely changed and degree of crystallinity, Xc, decreased with compositions. Samples with LDPE Tm and Xc decreased with compositions thus improved process ability. As the silane concentrations increased, the gel content after curing was also increased but independent of compositions. Longer curing time resulted in higher gel content. Thermal stability of the crosslinked HDPE was higher than the uncross-linked HDPE, thus silane cross-linking help to stabilize the blends. Key words: Silane cross–linked high density polyethylene, rotational molding, thermal properties, physical properties and process ability

Concerns regarding marine plastic pollution and its affinity for chemical pollutants led us to quantify relationships between different types of mass-produced plastic and organic contaminants in an urban bay. At five locations in San Diego Bay, CA, we measured sorption of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) throughout a 12-month period to the five most common types of mass-produced plastic: polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), and polypropylene (PP). During this long-term field experiment, sorption rates and concentrations of PCBs and PAHs varied significantly among plastic types and among locations. Our data suggest that for PAHs and PCBs, PET and PVC reach equilibrium in the marine environment much faster than HDPE, LDPE, and PP. Most importantly, concentrations of PAHs and PCBs sorbed to HDPE, LDPE, and PP were consistently much greater than concentrations sorbed to PET and PVC. These data imply that products made from HDPE, LDPE, and PP pose a greater risk than products made from PET and PVC of concentrating these hazardous chemicals onto fragmented plastic debris ingested by marine animals.

Microplastics are plastic particles less than 5 mm in size but larger than 0.1 µm. Widespread microplastic pollution in aquatic and terrestrial environment is raising serious concern globally due to its detrimental impacts on living beings. This urge for the necessity of a sensitive analytical tool, which can facilitate reliable identification of microplastics. Micro-Raman spectroscopy enables molecular level structural details of samples and thus highly preferable for the identification of microplastics in water. Besides being a non-destructive technique enabling fast analysis, this technique requires minimal/no sample preparation. The present work demonstrates the performance of a custom built Micro-Raman spectrometer for the discrimination of various microplastics in water based samples. Micro- Raman analysis have been found quite successful in the identification of Polystyrene (PS), Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), High Density Poly ethylene (HDPE), Low Density Poly ethylene (LDPE) etc. The Micro-Raman spectral data have been capable enough for the discrimination of high-density polyethylene (HDPE,> 0.940 g/cm3) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE,< 0.930 g/cm3) microplastics, especially due to the variations in the C-H stretching vibrations (2825-2970 cm−1). The ratio of intensities of asymmetric CH2 stretching mode (2879 cm−1) and the symmetric CH2 stretching mode (2847 cm−1) are found to be higher for HDPE with respect to LDPE. Moreover, intensity variations were also observed for the antisymmetric and symmetric C-C stretching bands present at 1059 cm−1 and 1126 cm−1 respectively. The band at 1167 cm−1 arising from CH vibration have also shown an intensity enhancement in HDPE samples.

Catalytic degradation of low and high density polyethylenes using ethylene polymerization catalysts: Kinetic studies using simultaneous TG/DSC analysis

Microplastics in the environment are an emerging concern due to impacts on human and environmental health. In addition to direct effects on biota, microplastics influence the fate and distribution of trace organic contaminants through sorption and transport. Environmental weathering may influence the rate and extent of chemical sorption. Changes in the surface characteristics of four common plastics including low-density polyethylene (LDPE), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (PS) were followed under the influence of both artificial light (UV-B) and natural sunlight for up to six months. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectra were collected at regular intervals. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the full dataset of UV-B weathered samples (n >500 spectra) simultaneously discriminated plastic type and extent of photochemical weathering. The magnitude of PCA scores correlated with exposure time and the loadings were consistent with surface chemistry changes including photooxidation. Projecting sunlight and UV-C exposed samples onto this PCA model demonstrated that similar chemical changes occurred, albeit at different rates. The results were compared to the carbonyl index (CI) with similar weathering trends indicating PP weathered at a faster initial rate than LDPE and HDPE. We propose that a multivariate approach is more widely applicable than CI as illustrated by PS, which lacked a stable reference peak. Kinetic analysis of the time series indicated that outdoor weathering occurred 5–12 times slower than the artificial exposure used here, depending on the plastic and the light source employed. The results provide unique insights into weathering processes and the photochemical age of naturally weathered plastics.

Oriented structure and anisotropy properties of polymer blown films: HDPE, LLDPE and LDPE

Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) are the principal plastics present in solid plastic waste and are found out as the main components of microplastics in marine and terrestrial environments. Currently, efforts have been made to develop new and effective methods to ensure the identification and separation of plastics in waste, ensuring the necessary purity to obtain quality and economically competitive recycled products. In this contribution, we investigated the usage of Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy in Attenuated Total Reflection mode (ATR-FTIR) combined with Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Linear Partial Least Squares Regression by Intervals (iPLS-R) and Competitive Adaptive Weighted Sampling (CARS/PLS-R) as chemometric methods to classify and determine the compositional fraction of the pristine and recycled mixtures of HDPE and LDPE from plastic waste in São Paulo, Brazil. Here, the 3D PCA plots were not effective in classifying the different polyethylenes and their polymer blends using the three main Principal Components (PC), but 2D PCA diagrams using PC1 and PC3 presented promising performance for this purpose. The iPLS-R presents the best predictive ability than CARS/PLS-R to determine the LDPE content in HDPE/LDPE recycled blends. However, the presence of different contaminants (in 5 wt%), such as silicon dioxide (SiO2), calcium carbonate (CaCO3), recycled polypropylene (PP), and recycled poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), reduces the potential usage of the iPLS-R models as identification tools for LDPE and HDPE sorting in industrial recycling processes.

Brittleness of a polymeric material has a direct relationship with the material's performance and furthermore shares an inverse relationship with that material's flexibility. The concept of flexibility of materials has been understood but merely explained with a hand-waving manner. Thus, it has never been defined by a calculation, thereby lacking the ability to determine a definite quantitative value for this characteristic. Herein, an equation is presented and proven which makes determining the value of flexibility possible. Such an equation could be used to predict a material's flexibility prior to testing it, thus saving money and valuable time for those in research and in industry. Substantiating evidence showing the relationship between flexibility of polymers and their respective mechanical properties is presented. Further relating the known tensile properties of a given polymer to its flexibility is expanded upon by proving its relationship to the linear coefficient of thermal expansion for each polymer. Additionally, determining flexibility for polymers whose chemical structures have been compromised by respective solvents has also been investigated to predict a solvent's impact on a polymer after exposure. Polymers examined through literature include polycarbonate (PC), polystyrene (PS), teflon (PTFE), styrene acrylonitrile (SAN), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), poly(ethersulfone) (PES), low density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF). Further testing and confirmation was made using PC, PS, ABS, LDPE, PP, and PMMA.

Exploration of fungal communities within the plastisphere reveals a complex interaction between microbial life and plastic pollution. This study investigates the prevalence and distribution of fungal plastisphere from the beach. Plastic samples were obtained at Marunda beach-Jakarta, Cipta beach-Semarang, and Baros beach-Yogyakarta, Java Island, Indonesia. Three type of plastic were high density polyethylene (HDPE), low density polyethylene (LDPE), and polypropylene (PP), which were subjected to scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX) analyzes to determine their surface topography, chemical composition, and adherent biofilms. Internal Transcribed Spacers (ITS) of the ribosomal RNA genes were used in fungal metagenome study. The existence of topographical structures and degrading effects, which promote microbial attachment on the plastic surface, as well as Na, Mg, Cl, Si, Al, S, Ca, Mn, and K element were discovered by SEM-EDX analysis. The results showed the presence and diversity of fungi in plastispheres found on the beach of Java, Indonesia. LDPE is especially suitable for plastisphere than HDPE, and PP. The observed species fungal plastisphere from Baros beach is higher than from Marunda and Cipta beaches. Ascomycota and Saccharomyces were dominant at the phylum and genus taxa, respectively. Moreover, these research results provide for fungal plastisphere ecological importance and also their potential role in bioremediation efforts aimed at addressing the global plastic waste challenge. HIGHLIGHTS The existence of topographical structures and degrading effects, which promote microbial attachment on the plastic surface from the beach. The elemental composition of plastisphere from beach consists of C, O, Na, Mg, Cl, Si, Al, S, Ca, Mn, and K. The observed species of fungal plastisphere from Baros beach is higher than from Marunda and Cipta beaches. Ascomycota was the dominant phylum of fungal plastisphere in all samples. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Thermal degradation behaviors of polyethylene and polypropylene. Part I: Pyrolysis kinetics and mechanisms

This research is aimed at investigating the mechanical behavior of the bitumen by the addition of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) obtained from waste plastic bottles and bags. Polymers (HDPE and LDPE) with percentages of 0%, 2%, 4%, and 6% in shredded form by weight of bitumen were used to evaluate the spectroscopic, structural, morphological, and rheological properties of polymer-modified binders. The rheological properties for different factors; viscosity (ἠ) from Rotational Viscometer (RV), rutting factor G*/Sin (δ), fatigue characteristics G*. Sin (δ), for the modified binder from dynamic shear rheometer (DSR), Short and long-term aging from rolling thin film oven (RTFO), and pressure aging vessel (PAV) was determined. The thermal characteristics, grain size, and texture of polymers for both LDPE and HDPE were found using bending beam rheometer (BBR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis revealed the presence of polymer contents in the modified binder. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images revealed the presence of HDPE and LDPE particles on the surface of the binder. Creep Rate (m) and Stiffness (S) analysis in relationship with temperature showed a deduction in stress rate relaxation. Results have revealed the best rutting resistance for 6% HDPE. It also showed an improvement of 95.27% in G*/Sin (δ) which increased the performance of the bituminous mix. Similarly, the addition of 4% LDPE resulted in maximum dynamic viscosity irrespective of the temperatures. Moreover, fatigue resistance has shown a significant change with the HDPE and LDPE. The festinating features of waste plastic modified binder make it important to be used in the new construction of roads to address the high viscosity and mixing problems produced by plastic waste and to improve the performance of flexible pavements all over the world.