Enhanced degradation properties of polypropylene integrated with iron and cobalt stearates and its synthetic application

Abstract

Synthetic plastic leads to environmental contamination, and a promising solution to this problem is to use prooxidants as fillers within them to speed up the photooxidation and thermooxidation processes. This makes plastics more susceptible to biodegradation. In this study, the degradation properties of the widely used polymer polypropylene (PP) were improved by integration with cobalt stearate (CoSt 2 ) and iron stearate (FeSt 3 ) as prooxidants with accelerating weathering degradation. The metal stearates were blended with PP in the concentration range 0.1-0.9% w/w. The properties of the blends were studied by mechanical properties testing, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and water absorption measurement. We performed the degradation properties and thermooxidative studies by conducting an accelerated weathering test on PP-metal salt blends. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy analysis of the samples before and after the accelerated weathering test were performed to study the extent of degradation in PP-based metal salt blends. The results indicate that the tensile strength was inversely proportional to the concentration of metal stearates, and the samples showed an increased degree in polymer crystallinity (PPFe5 > PPCo5), and this led to the degradation of PP in less time. CoSt 2 predominantly enhanced the degradation of PP in comparison to FeSt 3 . Food containers and pots were constructed with the tailored polymers of PP in the injection-molding machine. Thus, metal-stearate-integrated polymers have great industrial potential to generate value-added products.

Study of Different Treatment Methods on Chicken Feather Biomass

“…After that point, a steep weight loss occurred until 400 °C. This loss was allied with the helix denaturation, skeletal degradation and destruction of peptide bridge chain linkage [39][40][41]. With this, there was decomposition of some volatile compounds such as HCN, H 2 S, CO 2 and H 2 O [42].…”

Peculiarity of the Mechanism of Early Stages of Photo-Oxidative Degradation of Linear Low-Density Polyethylene Films in the Presence of Ferric Stearate

“…The most common co-oxidants are complexes consisting of transition metals with stearic acid or other organic ligands [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ]. In particular, stearic acid complexes of iron [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ], cobalt [ 20 ], and manganese [ 21 ] can be added to the polyethylene matrix as co-oxidants to greatly accelerate its degradation rate. Studies have shown that iron stearate is a good photo-oxidation aid to initiate the photo-oxidative degradation of polyethylene, while manganese stearate mainly plays a role in the thermo-oxidative degradation of polyethylene [ 22 ].…”

Mechanical and nonisothermal crystallization properties of coal gasification fine slag glass bead‐filled polypropylene composites

“…Polyolefins such as polyethylene and polypropylene (PP) are polymer materials that are used in the textile industry for manufacturing plastic products for daily usage, such as sacks and yarns . PP, a thermoplastic polymeric material, is known for its outstanding cost‐to‐performance ratio, which has motivated researchers to improve its properties further, for example, by reinforcement with various inorganic fillers . The effectiveness of the general inorganic fillers in improving the mechanical and physical properties of polymers seriously depends on many factors, such as the ratio of filler, shape, size, surface characteristics, interfacial adhesion, and degree of filler dispersion .…”

“…1 PP, a thermoplastic polymeric material, is known for its outstanding costto-performance ratio, which has motivated researchers to improve its properties further, for example, by reinforcement with various inorganic fillers. [2][3][4][5][6][7] The effectiveness of the general inorganic fillers in improving the mechanical and physical properties of polymers seriously depends on many factors, such as the ratio of filler, shape, size, surface characteristics, interfacial adhesion, and degree of filler dispersion. [8][9][10][11] It has been reported that some inorganic fillers can increase the Young's modulus of polymer composites but cause a decrease in the tensile strength and toughness.…”