scholarly journals Optical Properties of Polypropylene upon Recycling

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felice De Santis ◽  
Roberto Pantani

In the last few years there has been an increasing interest in the possibility of recycling polymeric materials, using physical recycling. However, is it well known that polymers experience a depletion of all the properties upon recycling. These effects have been widely characterized in the literature for what concerns the mechanical or rheological properties. The changes of optical properties after recycling have been much less studied, even if, especially in food packaging, optical characteristics (above all the opacity) are of extreme importance, and thus it is quite significant to assess the effect of recycling on these properties. In this work, the influence of recycling steps on the opacity of films of a commercial grade of isotactic polypropylene (i-PP) was studied. The material was extruded several times to mimic the effect of recycling procedures. After extrusion, films were obtained by cooling samples of material at different cooling rates. The opacity of the obtained films was then measured and related to their crystallinity and morphology. It was found that opacity generally increases on increasing the amount ofαphase and for the same amount ofαphase on increasing the size of the spherulites.

Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 2133
Author(s):  
Helena Oliver-Ortega ◽  
Josep Tresserras ◽  
Fernando Julian ◽  
Manel Alcalà ◽  
Alba Bala ◽  
...  

Packaging consumes around 40% of the total plastic production. One of the most important fields with high requirements is food packaging. Food packaging products have been commonly produced with petrol polymers, but due to environmental concerns, the market is being moved to biopolymers. Poly (lactic acid) (PLA) is the most promising biopolymer, as it is bio-based and biodegradable, and it is well established in the market. Nonetheless, its barrier properties need to be enhanced to be competitive with other polymers such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Nanoclays improve the barrier properties of polymeric materials if correct dispersion and exfoliation are obtained. Thus, it marks a milestone to obtain an appropriate dispersion. A predispersed methodology is proposed as a compounding process to improve the dispersion of these composites instead of common melt procedures. Afterwards, the effect of the polarity of the matrix was analyzing using polar and surface modified nanoclays with contents ranging from 2 to 8% w/w. The results showed the suitability of the predispersed and concentrated compound, technically named masterbatch, to obtain intercalated structures and the higher dispersion of polar nanoclays. Finally, the mechanical performance and sustainability of the prepared materials were simulated in a food tray, showing the best assessment of these materials and their lower fingerprint.


1990 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhou Zonghua ◽  
Chen Debeng ◽  
Wang Xiu ◽  
Lai Deming

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 86
Author(s):  
Kangwei Li ◽  
Mingming Yan ◽  
Jiandong Shen ◽  
Xin Zhang ◽  
Chunmei Geng ◽  
...  

As atmospheric fresh soot particles age, they become coated with other chemical species. This transforms their physicochemical properties and affects their optical characteristics, which is of great importance to air quality, the environment and climate change. One of the predominantly occurring states of soot particles in the ambient environment is the core-shell mixing state. In this study, we used the core-shell model to calculate the optical absorption, scattering and extinction efficiency, absorption proportion and absorption exponent of coated soot particles. We then investigated the effects of different core sizes (D0), incident wavelengths (λ), coating materials and coating thicknesses on these optical characteristics. Absorption efficiency and absorption proportion of soot particles decreased as the coating became thicker, at core sizes of D0 = 20, 50 and 100 nm and λ = 405, 532 and 781 nm, regardless of the type of coating material. As the coating thickness increased, the absorption exponent (β) of inorganic-coated soot particles tended to rise and then fall, while the β value of organic-coated soot particles kept increasing. Our results advance our scientific understanding of the interaction of optical properties with chemical composition, mixing state, and aging processes of soot particles in the atmosphere.


Polymers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvestru Bogdănel Munteanu ◽  
Cornelia Vasile

Plants are the most abundant bioresources, providing valuable materials that can be used as additives in polymeric materials, such as lignocellulosic fibers, nano-cellulose, or lignin, as well as plant extracts containing bioactive phenolic and flavonoid compounds used in the healthcare, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and nutraceutical industries. The incorporation of additives into polymeric materials improves their properties to make them suitable for multiple applications. Efforts are made to incorporate into the raw polymers various natural biobased and biodegradable additives with a low environmental fingerprint, such as by-products, biomass, plant extracts, etc. In this review we will illustrate in the first part recent examples of lignocellulosic materials, lignin, and nano-cellulose as reinforcements or fillers in various polymer matrices and in the second part various applications of plant extracts as active ingredients in food packaging materials based on polysaccharide matrices (chitosan/starch/alginate).


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