Influence of stabilization additive on rheological, thermal and mechanical properties of recycled polypropylene

Mihelčič, Mohor (author), Oseli, Alen (author), Huskić, Miroslav (author), Slemenik Perše, Lidija (author)

To decrease the amount of plastic waste, the use of recycling techniques become a necessity. However, numerous recycling cycles result in the mechanical, thermal, and chemical degradation of the polymer, which leads to an inefficient use of recycled polymers for the production of plastic products. In this study, the effects of recycling and the improvement of polymer performance with the incorporation of an additive into recycled polypropylene was studied by spectroscopic, rheological, optical, and mechanical characterization techniques. The results showed that after 20 recycling steps of mechanical processing of polypropylene, the main degradation processes of polypropylene are chain scission of polymer chains and oxidation, which can be improved by the addition of a stabilizing additive. It was shown that a small amount of an additive significantly improves the properties of the recycled polypropylene up to the 20th reprocessing cycle. The use of an additive improves the rheological properties of the recycled melt, surface properties, and time-dependent mechanical properties of solid polypropylene since it was shown that the additive acts as a hardener and additionally crosslinks the recycled polymer chains.

• Language: English
• Keywords: recycling, polypropylene, stabilization additive, rheological properties, thermal properties, mechanical properties
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FS - Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2022
• Number of pages: 16 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 14, iss. 24, art. 5438
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-143299
• UDC: 678:531/532.135
• ISSN on article: 2073-4360
• DOI: 10.3390/polym14245438
• COBISS.SI-ID: 133580547
• Publication date in RUL: 13.12.2022

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Polymers
• Shortened title: Polymers
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 2073-4360
• COBISS.SI-ID: 517951257

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: recikliranje, polipropilen, stabilizacijski aditivi, reološke lastnosti, termične lastnosti, mehanske lastnosti

Projects

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: P2-0264
• Name: Trajnostni polimerni materiali in tehnologije