Co-processing of polypropylene and poly(vinyl chloride) as a model of the compatibilization of separated plastic waste

conference proceedings

English

Processing the separated plastic waste is a current task because the majority of mixed plas-tic waste is still combusted or landfilled. It requires co-processing of various polymers such as low density polyethylene (LDPE), high density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PP), poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) or polyethylene terephtalate (PET) with a wide scale of properties. The co-processing of such heterogenous blend causes problems due to the different nature of the materials. The variability in temperature stability, crystallinity, melt viscosity, and chemical compatibility plays a key role. In the proposed contribution, the mixed polymer was simplified to a binary PP/PVC blend to highlight the theoretical effects of their compatibiliza-tion. The PP and PVC were selected due to the fact that these two polymers are probably the most different polymers present in real plastic waste. Polypropylene represents a nonpolar, semicrystalline component that is relatively thermally stable. On the other hand, PVC repre-sents a polar and amorphous polymer, and component with risk of thermal degradation. The contribution summarizes the problems that can be expected during the co-processing of such a diverse mixture. Furthermore, the contribution presents how the co-processing influences the behavior of both polymers, what can be improved by compatibilization, and how pro-cessing machines can be set. The data can help one to focus on the problems with polymer recycling.

waste; residual; polypropylene, PVC, extrusion, processing

ŽÍDEK, J.; KUČERA, F.; PETRUŠ, J.; ONDRAČKA, T.; KULOVANÁ, E.; NOVÁČEK, M.; KOIŠ, J.; JOHN, J.

9. 6. 2021

Selbstverlag der Hochschule Merseburg

Merseburg

978-3-00-069372-4

PolyMerTec 2021, Abstractband

1

1

73

73

1