Recycling of PP/LDPE Blend: Miscibility, Thermal Properties
Transcription
Recycling of PP/LDPE Blend: Miscibility, Thermal Properties
RECYCLING OF PP/LDPE BLEND: MISCIBILITY, THERMAL PROPERTIES, RHEOLOGICAL BEHAVIOR AND CRYSTAL STRUCTURE Chuanchom Aumnate1, Claudia Spicker1, Raphael Kiesel1, Majid Samadi2, Natalie Rudolph1, 1 Polymer Engineering Center, Mechanical Engineering Department, 2 Textile Science, Department of Design Studies and Materials Science Graduate Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI Abstract Blending of plastics used in packaging is an interesting approach for recycling or upcycling. Therefore, this study focused on the effects of processing on the properties of recycled PP and PP/LDPE blends. MFI measurements, Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and hot-stage polarized optical microscopy techniques were used to investigate the miscibility of PP/LDPE blends based on the thermal properties, degree of crystallinity, crystallization and morphology development in the blends. The MFI indicates, that PP and PP/LDPE blends are marginally sensitive to degradation at common processing conditions. The degree of crystallinity of the blends decreases with an increase of the LDPE content. Furthermore, the spherulite growth rate and crystal size of PP decrease with an increase of LDPE content. The shifts of crystallization temperatures from the DSC measurement, in conjunction with the crystallization kinetics, indicate that PP/LDPE (25 wt% LDPE) is partially miscible. Introduction Plastics are used on a daily basis in a number of applications. A huge amount of plastic is used in disposable products. The amount of plastic consumed has been growing steadily due to favorable properties such as low density, high strength, ease of manufacturing and low cost. As a result, both industry and private households generate more and more plastic waste. In 2007, polyolefins, in particular polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), represented more than 40 wt% of the total amount of plastic consumed in the world [1]. The biggest concerns are single-use plastic items such as packaging, bags and containers. Unfortunately, appropriate waste management strategies are not developing at the same rate as the increasing levels of plastic wastes. A large amount of waste does not reach proper disposal sites, instead littering the landscape, and blowing or washing into the sea, which leads to serious environmental problems. Continued increases in the use of plastics lead to increasing amounts of plastics ending up in the waste stream. In 2013, only 2.66 million tons out of the total 39.3 million tons of plastic waste of the American Municipal Waste Stream have been recycled. Polyolefins, which have good recycling properties, make up over 50% of the non-recycled plastic (17.80% HDPE, 19.60% LDPE, 13.90% PP). This has motivated the interest in plastic reuse and recycling [2, 3]. Due to its desirable physical properties such as high tensile strength, high stiffness and high chemical resistance, polypropylene (PP) has been widely used as packaging material for instance as margarine and yogurt containers, bottle caps and microwavable food. However, it shows poor impact strength at low temperatures and is susceptible to environmental stress cracking [4]. LDPE waste mostly results from bags and packaging films. Owing to its low mechanical properties and easy processability it is recycled as garbage bags. One possibility to develop alternative applications is blending it with other materials to improve the low mechanical performance of recycled LDPE. The combination of LDPE and PP is frequently found in polymer waste streams. Because of their similar density, PP and LDPE cannot be easily separated from each other in the recycling stream [5]. In general, blends of PE and PP have become a subject of great economic and research interest, not only to improve the processing and mechanical properties of PP, but also to expand opportunities to recycle these mixed plastics [6, 7]. Since the 1980s, a large amount of work has been focused on the study of mechanical properties of mixed PP and PEs, which was mostly performed on virgin materials. The effectiveness of blending largely depends on the miscibility or immiscibility of the blended components. PP and HDPE as well as PP and LDPE are generally considered immiscible in any blending ratio and show a remarkable phase separation during cooling and crystallization. As a result, a theoretical model for the properties of mixtures cannot be applied successfully [8]. The performance of PP/LDPE blends depends on the ratio, the melt viscosities and the processing conditions. Additions of other materials as compatibilizers can also improve the performance of this blended system. Borovanska et al. [9], and Penava et al. [10], improved the mechanical properties of a LDPE/PP blends by adding EPDM as a compatibilizer. Furthermore several technical published reports confirmed that blends of virgin polymers are significantly improved by adding appropriate compatibilizers. SPE ANTEC™ Indianapolis 2016 / 81 However, there is no universal compatibilizer for all kinds of mixtures. Besides, there are still discussions on the formation of the structure and compatibility of PP/LDPE blends [11]. Reprocessing of recycled material, both virgin and blended polymers, leads to degradation, and consequently, processability problems. Furthermore, recycling of blended materials in unknown ratios can lead to immiscible blends of varying and poor properties. This study focuses on the blending of PP and PEs in the ratios collected in the recycling stream in order to eliminate the sorting process. In particular, it aims to maintain or improve the properties of blends of recycled materials with respect to their virgin materials. One of the interesting applications is utilizing those recycled mixed plastics to produce 3D printing filament. The advantage would be to reuse plastic waste directly in a variety of tailored products. This will not only aim at the reuse of packaging waste in populated areas, but in remote locations such as military bases or underdeveloped regions, where the waste is produced. In this study, the effect of processing parameters on the properties of recycled materials such as the rheological behavior, morphology and their miscibility as a function of different blend compositions will be evaluated. In particular the focus is on the rather immiscible blend of PP and LDPE, which is inseparable in the recycling stream. In addition, the thermal stabilities of PP after a number of reprocessing cycles are investigated. The study will lead to a scientifically based design methodology for polyolefin blends, starting with PP/LDPE, that will allow designers to select the appropriate blend to achieve the desired properties. Materials The materials used in this study were divided into two parts; the virgin and recycled materials. The commercial virgin resins, which were used to study the behavior of PP/LDPE blends are low-density polyethylene, LDPE (DOW LDPE 132I) and polypropylene, PP (PHR Polypropylene P9G1Z-047). For the recycled part, the blends’ behavior and the effect of a number of reprocessing cycles were studied using recycled LDPE and regrind PP, manufacturing scrap supplied by PLACON Incorporated. Experimental Processing All materials were processed using a Leistritz ZSE18HPe laboratory, modular, intermeshing, co-rotating twin-screw extruder (screw speed: 150 rpm for recycled materials and 200 rpm for virgin materials). The material was subsequently pelletized with the appropriate downstream equipment (a water-through, blown-air drier and a rotary cutter). Afterwards it was dried and, in the case of the reprocessing study, reprocessed four more times under the same conditions. Table 1 shows the temperature profile of the extruder. Table 1. Temperature profile of the extruder used to reprocess and prepare the blends Extruder 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Die Zone Temperature 180 200 210 210 210 220 220 220 (ºC) Melt Flow Index The melt flow index (MFI) is a good technique to determine the effects of reprocessing since it is an indirect measurement of the melt viscosity of materials. It also indicates the changes in molecular weight and is widely used in the thermoplastic industry. The MFI measurements were carried out in an extrusion plastometer Series 4000 according to the ASTM D123810, using procedure A [12]. In case of the blends, the tests were performed at the higher temperature of the two polymers. For all materials, including virgin pellets and blend samples, three tests were performed. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) The melting and crystallization behavior of PP, LDPE and their blends were determined using a DSC 214 Polyma, NETZSCH Group) under a nitrogen atmosphere. For crystallization and melting temperature measurement, PP, LDPE and their blends were melted at 200°C, held isothermal for 2 min, then cooled to -35°C and heated to 200°C again with the scanning temperature rate of 5K/min. For isothermal analysis, all blends and pure polymers were quenched from 200°C to an isothermal temperature between 100°C to 125°C. Polarized Optical Microscopy The phase transformation of PP, LDPE and their blends was investigated using a Olympus IX71 polarising optical microscope equipped with a 50x objective and a hot-stage. All samples were prepared as 10 µm thick films using a microtome. The films were heated between a glass slide and cover slip to 200°C and kept for 2 min. Subsequently, the samples were quenched to an isothermal temperature between the crystallization temperatures for PP (125ºC) and LDPE (100ºC). Results and Discussions Melt Flow Index The effect of several processing cycles on the MFI of PP is shown in Figure 1. It can be seen, that the MFI increases moderately with every processing cycle. These results imply a reduction of the melt viscosity and the molecular weight during every processing cycle. SPE ANTEC™ Indianapolis 2016 / 82 12 1.2 1,2 1.0 1,0 MFI (g/10min) As the molecular weight is directly related to the length of the polymer chain, a decrease in chain length can be concluded. This chain scission can be caused by thermal, thermal oxidative and mechanical degradation in the extruder. Thermal degradation occurs due to the thermal oscillation of the molecules at high temperatures, leading to scission of the molecular bonds along the chain and the formation of two free radicals. Mechanical stresses like shear stress and tension have a similar effect [13]. These results indicate that PP is marginally sensitive to degradation at the used conditions. 0.8 0,8 0.6 0,6 0.4 0,4 0.2 0,2 0.0 0,0 100% vLDPE 75% vLDPE 50% vLDPE 25% vLDPE 100% vPP Figure 3. MFI of virgin PP (vPP), virgin LDPE (vLDPE) and their blends at different compositions (Temperature: 230°C). MFI (g/10min) 10 8 6 4 2 0 Virgin Regrind Cycle 1 Cycle 2 Cycle 3 Processing Steps Cycle 4 Cycle 5 Figure 1. Variation of MFI of virgin PP, manufacturing regrind and recycled PP in dependence of the number of extrusion cycles (Temperature: 230°C). For the blends the processing temperature was set for PP, which results in a higher processing temperature for LDPE than recommended by the manufacturer. Figure 2 presents the MFI of recycled PP and LDPE as well as their blends. The results show clearly that a higher amount of LDPE is correlating to a higher MFI. Due to the lower melting temperature of LDPE, it can be conclcuded that the molecular weight and the melt viscosity of the LDPE are decreasing much faster than those of the PP. As described above, a lower molecular weight and a lower melt viscosity are synonymous with a higher MFI. This justifies the rise of the MFI with an increasing amount of LDPE in the blend. 70 Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) PP and LDPE crystallize at different temperatures. Both polymers can have a mutual effect on the process of crystallization and the morphology of the blends [7]. The melting temperature (Tm) and crystallization temperature (Tc) of PP and LDPE in the blends are shown in Table 2. Table 2. Melting temperatures (Tm) and crystallization temperatures (Tc) of LDPE, PP and their blends of virgin materials at different compositions. LDPE Melting Temperatures Crystallization (wt%) (°C) Temperatures (°C) LDPE PP LDPE PP 0 25 50 75 100 60 MFI (g/10min) Figure 3 represents the MFI of virgin PP, virgin LDPE and their blends. It can be seen that the MFI of LDPE and PP are nearly the same regarding the virgin materials. In contrast to the MFI of the recycled materials, the MFI of all blend compositions are increasing compared to the individual material. These results indicate that LDPE acts as a plasticizer for the PP molecules and enhances the mobility and diffusion of PP in the blends. Furthermore, due to the higher processing temperatures of PP, all blends were prepared using a higher temperature than the usual processing temperature for LDPE. This might lead to a reduction in MFI of LDPE in all blends. 50 40 110.7 ± 0.2 111.1 ± 0.1 110.8 ± 0.2 110.9 ± 0.3 159.6 ± 0.2 158.4 ± 0.4 157.7 ± 0.2 158.6 ± 1.0 - 100.1 ± 0.3 99.8 ± 0.2 100.2 ± 0.3 99.6 ± 0.4 116.2 ± 0.1 115.6 ± 0.1 115.3 ± 0.9 113.7 ± 0.9 - 30 20 10 0 100% rLDPE 75% rLDPE 50% rLDPE 25% rLDPE 100% rPP Figure 2. MFI of recycled PP (rPP), recycled LDPE (rLDPE) and their blends at different compositions (Temperature: 230°C). Figure 4 shows the DSC heating curves of virgin PP, virgin LDPE and their blends at different compositions. The two endothermic peaks in the temperature range correspond to the melting temperature of the individual polymers. The melting temperature of PP and LDPE does not significantly depend on the composition of the blends. SPE ANTEC™ Indianapolis 2016 / 83 ∆𝐻! = ∆𝐻! 𝑤! ! (1) thus, ∆𝐻!!/!"#$ = ∆𝐻! !! ∆𝐻! !"#$ + 𝑤 !! 𝑤 !"#$ (2) The degree of crystallinity, 𝜒, of PP, LDPE and their blends was calculated using the following equation; 𝜒= Figure 4. Melting temperature (Tm) from the 2nd heating scan for PP, LDPE and their blends of virgin materials at different compositions. where ∆𝐻! is the specific heat of melting of a completely crystalline materials, ∆𝐻! = 147 𝐽/𝑔, and 293 𝐽/𝑔 for PP and PEs, respectively [7]. As shown in Figure 6 and Figure 7, the melting enthalpies of both materials tend to follow the Rule of Mixtures. However, a deviation of 2-19% can be observed between the melting enthalpy determined by the DSC measurement and the Rule of Mixtures methods. The maximum deviation (19%) was observed in PP/LDPE (50wt% LDPE), while the melting enthalpy of PP/LDPE (75wt%LDPE) fit well with the Rule of Mixtures approach (2% deviation). This indicates that PP/LDPE (75wt% LDPE) is partially miscible or compatible. 140 Enthalpy of Melting (J/g) It can be seen in Figure 5 that the crystallization peak of LDPE in all blend compositions shifts to higher temperatures relatively to the crystallization peak of virgin LDPE. In addition, the crystallization temperature of PP shifts to lower temperatures in relation to its composition in the blends, which indicates a reduction in the perfection of the formed crystallites. Further, the shift of the crystallization peak of PP (75% LDPE) overlaps with the crystallization peak of LDPE, which might be associated with a partial compatibility of LDPE and PP in the blend. ∆𝐻! × 100 (3) ∆𝐻! DSC Measurement 120 Rule of Mixture 100 80 60 40 20 0 0 25 50 75 100 LDPE Contents (wt%) Figure 6. The Enthalpy of melting of LDPE (∆𝐻!"#$ ) in PP/LDPE blends at different compositions determined from the Rule of Mixtures in comparison with the DSC measurements. Figure 5. Crystallization temperature (Tc) of virgin PP, virgin LDPE and their at different compositions. According to the Rule of Mixtures, the crystallinity of PP/LDPE blends was determined from the melting enthalpy (∆𝐻! ). The actual melting enthalpy of a blend is related to the enthalpy of the individual polymer and to their weight fraction w in the blends: SPE ANTEC™ Indianapolis 2016 / 84 Enthalpy of Melting (J/g) 120 DSC Measurement 100 Rule of Mixture 80 60 40 20 0 0 25 50 75 100 LDPE Contents (wt%) From the DSC measurements, the degree of crystallinity of PP and LDPE compositions were determined and are shown in Figure 8. It can be seen that the crystallinity of PP and LDPE in the blends is changing depending on their compositions. It was found that the increase of the LDPE content decreases the degree of crystallinity of the blend (red line). 80 PP 70 Figure 9. DSC crystallization curves obtained at 125°C for PP, LDPE and their blends of virgin materials at different compositions. 1 Reduced Crystallinity Figure 7. The Enthalpy of melting of PP (∆𝐻!! ) in PP/LDPE blends at different compositions determined from the Rule of Mixtures in comparison with the DSC measurements. 0.8 0.6 0.4 vPP 0.2 PP/LDPE (25wt% LDPE) Crystallinity (%) LDPE 60 Total % Crystallinity PP/LDPE (50wt% LDPE) 0 0 50 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 Time (sec) 40 The crystallization rates for virgin PP, virgin LDPE and their blends at different compositions measured as a function of time. Figure 10. 30 20 10 0 100wt% vPP 25wt% vLDPE 50wt% vLDPE 75wt% vLDPE 100wt% vLDPE Figure 8. % Crystallinity of PP, LDPE and their blends of virgin materials at different compositions. Figure 9 shows the isothermal crystallization curves for PP, LDPE and their blends at 125°C, a temperature at which only PP could crystallize. The higher the LDPE contents, the broader peaks were observed. However, the crystallization peaks for PP/LDPE with 75wt% LDPE and 100% LDPE was not observable at this temperature. Based on Figure 9 the crystalline fractions for all crystallized materials were plotted versus the crystallization time as shown in Figure 10. The crystallization rate decreased as the LDPE content increased. Polarized Optical Microscopy The crystal structures and morphology of virgin PP, virgin LDPE and their blends at different compositions were captured at appropriate times using the polarized optical microscope. From the DSC results, it is known that PP starts crystallizing at 125°C while LDPE starts at 100°C (Figure 5). In this study, we monitored crystal growth in the blends in order to get more information and understanding of their morphology. Each blend was crystallized isothermally at 125°C, where only PP could crystallize. PP is a semi-crystalline thermoplastic polymer with high degree of crystallinity due to its regular chain structure. In general, PP can crystallize in a wide range of spherulite dimensions (from 10-50 µm to 280-370 µm) depending on the crystallization conditions as well as the presence of nucleating agent [14, 15]. SPE ANTEC™ Indianapolis 2016 / 85 LDPE crystals, in general, consist of ethylene units in a chain fold structure. Thus, the segment length of an ethylene unit can limit the lamella thickness. PP crystals consist of compacted spherulites, as it can be observed in Figure 11(b). It is clearly visible that LDPE crystals are much smaller in size compared to PP crystals. (a) (b) Figure 11. Polarizing optical microscopy of (a) 100% LDPE after isothermal crystallization at 100°C for 20 min and (b) 100% PP after isothermal crystallization at 125°C for 20 min. Figure 12 shows the nucleation and growth process of PP/LDPE blends during the isothermal crystallization at 125°C from 4 to 10 min. The spherulites of PP in blends were not as sharp as in the virgin PP but they could still be easily distinguished. During crystallization, the PP in the blend crystallizes at almost the same rate as virgin PP. Figure 12. Polarizing optical microscopy of the nucleation and growth process of PP/LDPE blends during isothermal crystallization at 125°C: (a) PP/LDPE (25 wt% LDPE); (b) PP/LDPE (50 wt% LDPE) and (c) PP/LDPE (75 wt% LDPE). SPE ANTEC™ Indianapolis 2016 / 86 A larger LDPE content resulted in a reduction of the average spherulite size of PP. This might imply an increase in the PP nucleation density due to blending. Thus, smaller crystals were observed. Although PP should be somewhat soluble in the melted LDPE, is seems to be consuming the remaining PP dissolved in the matrix, preventing bridging growth [16]. This can be also concluded from the shifting of Tc of PP to a lower temperature with larger LDPE contents. The crystallization rate of PP was found to be slightly slower at larger LDPE contents. As can be seen from Figure 12 at 4 min, the PP spherulite in the 75 wt% LDPE blend developed slower than that of PP spherulites in the 50 wt% LDPE and 75 wt% LDPE blends, respectively. Even though the PP crystals in the blend of 25wt% LDPE nucleated faster than that of the blend with 50wt% LDPE, it should be noted that once the PP crystals in the blend of 50 wt% LDPE were nucleated, they grew faster. This can be seen at 8 min. Some crystals nucleated at a much lower rate and then grew faster afterwards. In our continued study, we will focus on the crystallization kinetics of the blends, which could supportive explain the crystallization behavior of our blend system more clearly. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Conclusions The effects of processing on the properties of recycled PP, recycled LDPE and their blends were investigated by MFI measurements. Based on the moderate increase of the MFI, it can be concluded that PP is marginally sensitive to degradation at the used conditions, which was also observed in the PP/LDPE blends. The thermal properties, crystallinity and morphology development of polymer blends, which strongly depend on the miscibility between blending components, can be investigated using DSC measurement and the hot-stage polarized optical microscopy technique. In this study, the addition of LDPE decreases the degree of crystallinity of the PP/LDPE blends. The blends with 25 wt% LDPE exhibit a partial miscibility and compatibility between PP and LDPE phases. The crystallization kinetics of all blend compositions, both isothermal and dynamic, and their applicability in processing will be further studied to evaluate the ideal conditions to produce miscible blends. The effect of thermal, thermal oxidative and mechanical stress will be investigated separately to determine their contribution to the observed degradation. 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