Waste and Virgin LDPE/PET Blends Compatibilized with an Ethylene‐Butyl Acrylate‐Glycidyl Methacrylate (EBAGMA) Terpolymer, 1

Abstract

Summary: This work is aimed at studying the morphology and the mechanical properties of blends of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) (10, 20, and 30 wt.‐% of PET), obtained as both virgin polymers and urban plastic waste, and the effect of a terpolymer of ethylene‐butyl acrylate‐glycidyl methacrylate (EBAGMA) as a compatibilizer. LDPE and PET are blended in a single screw extruder twice; the first extrusion to homogenize the two components, and the second to improve the compatibilization degree when the EBAGMA terpolymer is applied. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis shows that the fractured surface of both the virgin polymer and the waste binary blends is characterized by a gross phase segregation morphology that leads to the formation of large PET aggregates (10–50 µm). Furthermore, a sharp decrease in the elongation at break and impact strength is observed, which denotes the brittleness of the binary blends. The addition of the EBAGMA terpolymer to the binary LDPE/PET blends reduces the size of the PET inclusions to 1–5 µm with a finer dispersion, as a result of an improvement of the interfacial adhesion strength between LDPE and PET. Consequently, increases of the tensile properties and impact strength are observed.

Development of Antibacterial Composite Films Based on Isotactic Polypropylene and Coated ZnO Particles for Active Food Packaging

“…For the samples containing ZnOc, an absorption band is also observed in the region around 385 nm, as indicated by arrows. This band is due to the inherent capacity of the ZnO particles to absorb the UV light [29,30,35,36]. Comparing the results with those obtained for the system iPP/ZnO and iPP/PPgMA/ZnO [24] at a given composition, it seems that the coating of the ZnO with stearic acid favors a better dispersion and distribution of the particles in the iPP matrix and prevents the formation of agglomerates.…”

“…For the samples containing ZnOc, an absorption band is also observed in the region around 385 nm, as indicated by arrows. This band is due to the inherent capacity of the ZnO particles to absorb the UV light [29,30,35,36].…”

Effect of wood filler treatment and EBAGMA compatibilizer on morphology and mechanical properties of low density polyethylene/olive husk flour composites

“…The major constituents of the olive husk flour were determined on the basis of absolutely dry substances using chemical procedures [17], i. e. cellulose = 39±0.5 %wt, lignin = 20.52±0.4 %wt, organic content = 8.5±0.8 %wt and mineral filler = 3±0.2 %wt. The cellulose is the main constituent of the olive husk and it contains numerous hydroxyl groups that are strongly hydrophilic providing hydrogen bonds [18]. The moisture content of the filler was = 7±0.3 %wt.…”

“…Indeed, a decrease is observed in the size of the aggregates. This result may be attributed to the efficient activity of glycidyl methacrylate functionality of the EBAGMA terpolymer which contains both acrylic and epoxy groups to provide flexibility and adhesive strength [18]. Figure 7 shows the changes in the percent elongation at break for all the composite samples compared to the neat LDPE.…”

Polyethylenes/PET blend compatibilization with maleic anhydride modified polyethylenes obtained by a UV preirradiation process

“…Recently, the availability of a considerable amount of postconsumer polyethylene and PET induced new studies concerning the development of convenient recycling routes. [12][13][14][15] The latter as a consequence of poor mechanical properties obtained after reprocessing plastic waste, by simple melt blending, 14,15 because of the incompatibility of these two polymers, giving rise to irregular morphology, gross phase segregation, and lack of adhesion between the phases.…”