New fluorescence labeling isotactic polypropylenes as a tracer: a proof of concept

Pragliola, Stefania; Grisi, Fabia; Vitale, Vissia; Sacco, Olga; Venditto, Vincenzo; Izzo, Lorella; Grimaldi, Annalisa; Baranzini, Nicolò

doi:10.1039/d2py00302c

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 32 publications

(85 reference statements)

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“…Fluorescence staining has been previously pursued as a strategy for plastics detection. Primarily, it has been used as a detection tool for identifying plastic materials among a variety of substances in single waste streams , or particles (i.e., micro- and nano-plastics) within natural samples. − One of the prominent fluorophores used is Nile red, which is arguably the most used in the microplastic community to detect and quantify microplastic particles. − Yet, many of these fluorescent studies only collect bulk fluorescence signals at a specific emission wavelength and largely ignore important spectral information from the stain adsorbed onto plastic. Herein, we present a new analysis method of Nile red fluorescence that enables us to quantify plastic aging, which overcomes the limitations of more traditional techniques, like FTIR or contact angle.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantification of Polymer Surface Degradation Using Fluorescence Spectroscopy

2023

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One solution to minimizing plastic pollution is to improve reuse and recycling strategies. Recycling, however, is limited by the overall degradation of plastics being used, and current techniques for monitoring this plastic degradation fail to observe this in its early stages, which is key for optimizing reusability. This research seeks to develop an inexpensive, reproducible, and nondestructive technique for monitoring degradation of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) materials using Nile red as a fluorescent probe. Changes in Nile red’s fluorescence spectra were observed upon exposure to stained, aged PE and PP samples. As the surface hydrophobicity of the plastic decreases, Nile red’s fluorescence signal undergoes a corresponding signal shift to longer wavelengths (lower energy). The trends seen in the fluorescent profile were related to more commonly used measurements of plastic degradation, namely, the carbonyl index from infrared spectroscopy and bulk crystallinity from calorimetry. Results demonstrate clear trends in fluorescence spectra shifts as related to the chemical and physical changes to the plastics, with trends dependent on the polymer type but independent of polymer film thickness. The strength of this technique is divided into two defined fits of the fluorescence signal; one fit characterizes the degradation throughout the whole range of degradative oxidation and the other is tailored to provide insight into the early stages of degradation. Overall, this work establishes a characterization tool that assesses the extent of plastics’ degradation, which may ultimately impact our ability to recover plastics and minimize plastic waste.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantification of Polymer Surface Degradation Using Fluorescence Spectroscopy

2023

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“…Recently, some of us reported the synthesis of new copolymers of propylene fluorescent comonomer N-pentenyl-carbazole (P(P-co-PK) contained in low amou Scheme 1) [24]. Such copolymer samples can be readily prepared by copolymeriz the two comonomers (N-pentenyl-carbazole and propylene) using Ziegler-Natt catalytic systems and they can show chemico-physical properties very similar to i polypropylene (i-PP) as well as the distinctive fluorescence of the carbazole gro also demonstrated that P(P-co-PK)/commercial i-PP homogeneous blend films con 1% by weight of P(P-co-PK) retain the same optical feature of P(P-co-PK).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Propylene-co-N-pentenyl-carbazole copolymer structure. Therefore, we suggested that P(P-co-PK) s , due to their high compatibility with i-PP and similar stability, can be used for the fluorescent tagging of i-PP allowing for its detection in the recycling processes of plastics [24]. Starting from these foregoing results, we hypothesized that this approach could be used to obtain fluorescent copolymers of other common plastic materials such as polyethylene (PE) and polystyrene (PS), thus making it suitable to be used for the fluorescent tagging of their homologous homopolymers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polyethylenes and Polystyrenes with Carbazole Fluorescent Tags

et al. 2023

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The increasingly intense consumption of plastics and, above all, their improper disposal in the environment are causing serious environmental concerns. Great efforts have been made for the development of new methods aimed at facilitating and speeding up the identification and sorting of different materials in the plastic recycling process. In this field, new strategies based on fluorescent tagging have been developed. This work concerns the synthesis and characterization of new fluorescent copolymers of polyethylene (PE) and polystyrene (PS), which are among the most produced and consumed plastic materials. The synthesized copolymers are potentially suitable for use as fluorescent markers of PE and PS. Ethylene-co-N-pentenyl carbazole (P(E-co-PK)) and styrene-co-4-(N-carbazolyl)methyl styrene (P(S-co-SK)) copolymers were prepared by Ziegler–Natta and free radical polymerization, respectively. If excited at 300 nm, both P(E-co-PK)s and P(S-co-SK)s give fluorescence emissions resulting in them being optically active. Moreover, due to the low amount of fluorescent units, they show chemico-physical properties such as those of their corresponding homopolymers (PE and PS). P(E-co-PK)s and P(S-co-SK)s have been also tested as fluorescent markers of PE and PS. The experimental results demonstrate that from PE/P(E-co-PK) and PS/P(S-co-SK) blends prepared using only 1% by weight of fluorescent copolymer, distinguishable fluorescent emissions can be still detected.

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“…Beside these approaches, copolymerization of the olefin with an olefin bearing the chromophore, i.e., carbazole as in the present study, is the most cost-effective method to access these materials. Most cases in literature deal with the synthesis of PE-based copolymers, − and studies about the preparation of PP-based are quite rare. − In the latter case, copolymers of PP with 9 H -alkenyl carbazole, in which the olefin and the photoactive group are linked by spacers of different length (3 and 9 carbons long), have been synthesized by using metallocene and postmetallocene catalysts. One of these research groups has investigated this kind of PP copolymers as fluorescent probes to track the effect of PP microplastics on organism in aquatic environments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most cases in literature deal with the synthesis of PE-based copolymers, − and studies about the preparation of PP-based are quite rare. − In the latter case, copolymers of PP with 9 H -alkenyl carbazole, in which the olefin and the photoactive group are linked by spacers of different length (3 and 9 carbons long), have been synthesized by using metallocene and postmetallocene catalysts. One of these research groups has investigated this kind of PP copolymers as fluorescent probes to track the effect of PP microplastics on organism in aquatic environments. The other group , has carried out a thorough study on the properties of poly(propylene- co -11-carbazole-1-undecene) (PK), showing that thermal and mechanical performance of those materials are better than those of PP, when irradiated with UV light.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermal and Dielectric Stability of Functional Photo-cross-linkable Carbazole-Modified Polypropylene

Plaza-González,

Blázquez-Blázquez,

Gómez-Elvira

et al. 2023

ACS Appl. Polym. Mater.

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The present work deals with the synthesis and characterization of fluorescent polypropylene materials as well as the study of some properties, with the purpose of exploring their potential as specialty materials in high-thermal stability dielectrics. Direct copolymerization of propylene with 9-(undec-10-en-1-yl)-9H-carbazole, via metallocene catalysis, has allowed the preparation of materials containing up to 4 mol % of carbazole units. Characterization of obtained materials has shown that, besides fluorescence emission, improvements in both dielectric response and stability are important enough for potential use in PP-based film capacitors. In addition, an exploratory study on a UV-irradiated copolymer reveals that cross-linking between carbazole units is the mechanism that enables further improvements in thermal and thermo-oxidative stabilities, with respect to polypropylene.

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New fluorescence labeling isotactic polypropylenes as a tracer: a proof of concept

Abstract: Propylene-co-N-pentenyl-carbazole copolymers P(P-co-PK)s containing a low amount of isolated PK units were prepared by using the isospecific homogeneous Ziegler-Natta (Z-N) catalytic system rac-dimethylsilylbis(1-indenyl)zirconium dichloride / methylaluminoxane (MAO) with the aim...

Cited by 5 publications

References 32 publications

Quantification of Polymer Surface Degradation Using Fluorescence Spectroscopy

Quantification of Polymer Surface Degradation Using Fluorescence Spectroscopy

Polyethylenes and Polystyrenes with Carbazole Fluorescent Tags

Thermal and Dielectric Stability of Functional Photo-cross-linkable Carbazole-Modified Polypropylene

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