Abiotic degradation of plastic films

8th International Congress of Engineering Physics

物理学;工业技术

Ángeles-López, Y.G.^1 ; Gutiérrez-Mayen, A.M.^1 ; Velasco-Pérez, M.^1 ; Beltrán-Villavicencio, M.^1 ; Vázquez-Morillas, A.^1 ; Cano-Blanco, M.^1

Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Unidad Azcapotzalco, Avenida San Pablo Xalpa 180, Azca., Reynosa Tama., Ciudad de Mexico, D.F.

02200, Mexico^1

关键词: Abiotic conditions;    Abiotic degradation;    Accelerated weathering;    Degradable plastics;    Elongation at break;    Environmental conditions;    Natural weathering;    Thermal oxidation;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/792/1/012027/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1742-6596/792/1/012027

学科分类：工业工程学

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

Degradable plastics have been promoted as an option to mitigate the environmental impacts of plastic waste. However, there is no certainty about its degradability under different environmental conditions. The effect of accelerated weathering (AW), natural weathering (NW) and thermal oxidation (TO) on different plastics (high density polyethylene, HDPE; oxodegradable high density polyethylene, HDPE-oxo; compostable plastic, Ecovio ®; metalized polypropylene, PP; and oxodegradable metalized polypropylene, PP-oxo) was studied. Plastics films were exposed to AW per 110 hours; to NW per 90 days; and to TO per 30 days. Plastic films exposed to AW and NW showed a general loss on mechanical properties. The highest reduction in elongation at break on AW occurred to HDPE-oxo (from 400.4% to 20.9%) and was higher than 90% for HDPE, HDPE-oxo, Ecovio ® and PP-oxo in NW. No substantial evidence of degradation was found on plastics exposed to TO. Oxo-plastics showed higher degradation rates than their conventional counterparts, and the compostable plastic was resistant to degradation in the studied abiotic conditions. This study shows that degradation of plastics in real life conditions will vary depending in both, their composition and the environment.