Versatile Applications of Degradable Plastic

In the last 50 years, plastics has become a favorite industry for packaging materials for their ease of manufacture and excellent performance. The advancement of food, electronics, automobile, medical and agricultural industries has increased the demand for packaging and casing materials made of large hydrocarbon polymers. Since plastics show resistance to biodegradation, they pose considerable threats to the environment. Degradable plastics and biopolymers offer promising solutions to this problem. Degradable plastics can be easily absorbed in the environment while exhibiting the properties of conventional plastics. There are three types of biopolymers according to their source: biomass extracted polymers, synthesized from microorganisms and produced from bio-derived monomers. Biodegradable plastics are commonly used in one-off packaging such as crockery, food service containers and cutlery. Although biodegradable plastics can replace conventional plastics in a lot of applications, their performance and cost are sometimes problematic. This chapter analyses the growth of the degradable plastic industry and explores their potential applications.

STUDYING THE PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SPATIAL GRID OF STRUCTURED STYRENE-BUTADIENE POLYMERS FOR ORTHOPAEDIC INSOLES

Structuring reactions of polymer materials should be attributed to intermolecular reactions.The process of structuring is accompanied by a modification of the backbone polymer macromolecules both by the addition of fragments of cross-linking agent and through the development process of isomerization and cyclization of the macromolecules of polymers under the action of cross-linking agents or their transformation products. The process of formation of cross-linked structures of hydrocarbon polymers is a complex and multistage chemical reaction. The formation of cross-linked structures of hydrocarbon polymers, such as SCS-30 and SKS-50 with a latent curing agent LR-3 is considered. The results of studies of the effect of the latent curing agent LR-3 and sulfur vulcanizing groups on the physical parameters of the spatial grid of the structured styrene-butadiene rubbers are given. It is experimentally proved that new spatially cross-linked styrene-butadiene-based elastomers based on the latent hardener-3 possess all the properties inherent to the polymer mesh. The most significant features include its ability to undergo large reversible deformations, which is important for orthopaedic insoles. It is experimentally proven that the density of spatially structured grids for different compositions is as follows: for the polymer compositions based on rubber SKS-30 with a latent curing agent LR-3 is 1,26•1027 sm-3; for a composition based on the SCS-50 rubber with a latent curing agent LR-3 is equal to 1,29•1027 sm-3. The density of sulfur vulcanizates: 2,17•1031 sm-3 and 2,17•1031 sm-3 respectively for the polymer compositions SKS-30 and SKS-50. On the basis of experimental data, it is establisbed that the most promising material as orthopaedic insoles is the polymer composition based on styrene -butadiene rubber SKS-30 with a latent curing agent LR-3.

Allylic hydrocarbon polymers complexed with Fe(II)(salen) as a ultrahigh oxygen-scavenging and active packaging film

Macromolecular metal complexes provide a molecular-based synergy function of organic polymers and combined metal complexes. A new category of macromolecular complexes includes catalytically active metal complexes immobilized by organic polymers containing reactive substrate moieties in their repeating units. Here, we describe the extremely efficient oxidation of allylic hydrocarbon polymers with the attached iron complex catalyst, as well as the efficient oxygen-consumption or oxygen-scavenging function of the matrix polymer film. The less toxic N,N´-di(salicylaldehyde)ethylenediiminatoiron(II) complex was combined with or fixed onto a series of allylic hydrocarbon polymers as both the oxidative substrate and the film matrix, i.e. poly(1,2-butadiene), polynorbornene, poly(5-vinyl-2-norbornene), poly(2,5-norboenadiene), poly(dicyclopentadiene), and poly(5-ethylidene-2-norbornene). Ultra-high oxygen-scavenging capacity up to 300 mL (oxygen gas at STP)/g(film) was achieved, based on the oxidative consumption of the allylic bond (particularly of poly(5-ethylidene-2-norbornene)), which was more than three times that of the previously reported highest oxygen-scavenging polymers. These oxygen-scavenging films are based on the high reactivity of polymer-metal complexes that provides an innovative development in the area of active packaging polymer films that facilitate cost-effective performance, safety, and sustainability.

Theoretical Prediction of Mechanical Strength and Desalination Performance of One-Atom-Thick Hydrocarbon Polymer in Pressure-Driven Separation

One-atom-thick materials hold promise for the future of membrane-based gas purification and water filtration applications. However, there are a few investigations on the mechanical properties of these materials under pressure-driven condition. Here, by employing molecular simulation techniques and continuum mechanics simulation, we investigate the mechanical strength of two-dimensional hydrocarbon polymers containing sub-nanometer pores with various topologies. We demonstrate that the mechanical strengths of the membranes are correlated with their pore sizes and geometries. In addition, when the pore size of substrates is controlled within a reasonable range, all of the membrane candidates can withstand the practical hydraulic pressure of few megapascal. The studied materials also exhibit better seawater desalination performance as compared to the traditional polymeric reverse osmosis membrane. This work presents a new route to design new separation membrane, and also propose a simulation method to evaluate the mechanical strength and desalination performance.