Rapid classification of virgin and recycled EPS containers by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and chemometrics

ABSTRACT

A rapid and sensitive method for classification of virgin and recycled expanded polystyrene (EPS) food containers was developed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and chemometrics. This method includes preparing a transparent film by dissolution, examining by FTIR and developing classification models. The degradation of EPS containers occurring during the recycling process was reflected by the carbonyl region of the infrared spectrum which was used as variables for multivariate data analysis. PCA was used to reduce the data dimension and view the sample similarities. Soft independent modelling of class analogy (SIMCA), partial least squares-discrimination analysis (PLS-DA) and linear discrimination analysis (LDA) were applied to construct three classification models. The best discrimination results were obtained by an LDA model, with all samples correctly classified. PLS-DA and SIMCA could not classify the recycled EPS samples with low levels of adulteration. When applying this method to commercially available EPS containers, about 45% of samples were shown to contain recycled polystyrene resins. It is concluded that the carbonyl region of the infrared spectra coupled with chemometrics could be a powerful tool for the classification of virgin and recycled EPS food containers.     

Layered-silicate based polystyrene nanocomposite microcellular foam using supercritical carbon dioxide as blowing agent

Exfoliated layered-silicate in the polystyrene (PS) block copolymer with different molecular weights was employed as a model material to investigate the PS nanocomposite microcellular foams expanded by supercritical carbon dioxide. Using a well-controlled foaming procedure, we investigated the influence of molecular weight of PS, dispersion and loading of layered-silicate and pressure drop rate of a blowing agent on the cell size and cell density. Our experimental results indicate that only exfoliated layered-silicate can inhibit the cell expansion and has high nucleation efficiency during foaming. The average cell diameter can be reduced from 6 μm to 1.4 μm and the cell density can be increased from 7.6 × 10⁹ cells/cm³ to 5.0 × 10¹¹ cells/cm³. On the contrary, aggregated layered-silicate in PS did not show any effect on the cell morphology of PS foam.     

Thermal energy storage by poly(styrene-co-p-stearoylstyrene) copolymers produced by the modification of polystyrene

A series of poly(styrene-co-p-stearoyl styrene) copolymers as novel polymeric solid–solid phase-change materials (SSPCMs) were synthesized by the modification of polystyrene with stearoyl chloride. The chemical structure and crystalline morphology of the synthesized copolymers were determined with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and polarized optical microscopy, respectively. The thermal energy storage properties and thermal stability of the SSPCMs were investigated with differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis, respectively. In addition, the thermal conductivity of the SSPCMs was measured with a thermal property analyzer. Moreover, thermal cycling tests showed that the copolymers had good thermal reliability and chemical stability after being subjected to 5000 heating/cooling cycles. The synthesized poly(styrene-co-stearoyl styrene) copolymers as novel SSPCMs have considerable potential for thermal energy storage and temperature-control applications. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

Synthesis of graft copolymers based on polyphenylene xylylene and fullerene grafted polystyrene

Graft copolymers containing poly(phenylene xylyene) (PPX) backbone and polystyrene fullerene (PSFu) grafting chains (PPX‐g‐PSFu) were prepared by using a purposed synthetic route comprising a combination of reaction mechanisms namely the modified Wessling route, an iniferter polymerization, and an atom transfer radical addition (ATRA). The monomer was first prepared by reacting dichloroxylene with tetrahydrothiophene. After that the monomer was polymerized in a sodium hydroxide solution to provide a polymer precursor. Subsequently, the polymer precursor was modified by reacting it with a dithiocarbamate (DTC) compound. The macroiniferter was obtained and then copolymerized with styrene and chloromethylstyrene via an iniferter polymerization. Finally, the graft copolymer was reacted with fullerene through an ATRA technique to attach the C60 groups onto the graft copolymer molecule. The products obtained from each of the steps were characterized by using various techniques including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography, differential scanning calorimetry, UV–visible spectroscopy, and thermal gravimetric analysis. The aforementioned results suggest that the graft copolymers were prepared. The grafting yield and grafting efficiency were found to increase with the monomers concentration and the amount of DTC used. Some homopolymer contaminants also occurred but those could be minimized and subsequently removed by extraction with selective solvents. These graft copolymer products might be used for the development of a bulk heterojunction polymer solar cell. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Different deformation mechanisms of two modified‐polystyrene bimodal systems

It is well known that the dominant toughening mechanism of rubber‐modified polystyrene is multiple crazing. Some researchers have investigated polystyrene that can be modified by rubbers with dual particle sizes, leading to better mechanical properties. That is, the way to absorb energy during the deformation process is crazing and cavitation induced by rubber particles. Two types of polybutadiene‐graft‐polystyrene (PB‐g‐PS) rubber modifiers which have core‐shell structures were synthesized via an emulsion graft polymerization using redox and oil‐soluble initiators, respectively. To balance the yield strength, general‐purpose polystyrene was blended with the PB‐g‐PS modifiers, as well as commercial high‐impact polystyrene. Blends were defined as R‐bimodal and O‐bimodal corresponding to dispersed PB‐g‐PS particles formed using the redox and oil‐soluble initiators, respectively. The impact strength of R‐bimodal was improved significantly by altering the ratio of core to shell. However, little change of impact strength was observed for O‐bimodal. Transmission electron microscopy images of fracture surfaces indicated that the deformation mechanism of R‐bimodal is shear‐yielding induced by multi‐crazing. Moreover, PB‐g‐PS particles dispersed in O‐bimodal can form a ‘cluster’ structure, leading to crazing to absorb energy. Scanning electron microscopy images also showed obvious distinctness between the R‐bimodal and O‐bimodal systems due to different deformation mechanisms. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

Hydrophilic polystyrene/maleic anhydride ultrafine fibrous membranes

Polystyrene/maleic anhydride (PSMA) was synthesized to reach a viscosity‐average molecular weight of 700 kDa and fabricated into ultrafine fibrous membranes consisting of fibers with an average diameter of 300 nm. These ultrafine PSMA fibers were rendered insoluble in organic solvents by reactions with hydrazine and ethylenediamine (ED). The highly efficient incorporation of diamines into the fibrous membranes was easily achieved by brief immersions in either dilute (0.5 wt %) hydrazine for 1 min or ED ether solution for 2 min. Heating at 150°C for 5 min produced crosslinked PSMA with very little or no solubility in acetone with the retention of the fibrous membrane structure. The ED‐crosslinked membranes were particularly stable to both bases and acids as well as hydrophilic solvents, had a 46° water contact angle, and absorbed 22 times the amount of water as the as‐spun fibrous membrane. This post‐fiber‐formation crosslinking approach was robust, highly efficient, and fast and required very little crosslinking reagent. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Rheological,mechanical and morphological properties of thermoplastic vulcanizates based on high impact polystyrene and styrene‐butadiene rubber

Thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs) based on high impact polystyrene (HIPS)/styrene‐butadiene rubber (SBR) blends were prepared by dynamic vulcanization technique. The rheological, mechanical and morphological properties of the dynamically vulcanized blends were investigated systematically. As determined by capillary rheometer, the apparent viscosity of the blends decreases as the shear rate increases, indicating obvious pseudoplastic behavior. At low shear rate, the apparent viscosity of these blends is considerably higher than that of neat HIPS and decreases with the increase of HIPS concentration. The increase of HIPS content in the dynamically vulcanized blends contributes to the increase of tensile strength and hardness properties, while elongation at break and tensile set at break reach a maximum at 30 and 50 wt % of the HIPS content, respectively. The etched surfaces of the HIPS/SBR TPVs were investigated using field‐emission scanning electron microscopy, the morphological study reveals continuous HIPS phase and finely dispersed SBR elastomeric phase in the TPVs. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Improving adhesion of wood fiber with polystyrene by the chemical treatment of fiber with a coupling agent and the influence on the mechanical properties of composites

—The mechanical properties of polystyrene filled with chemithermomechanical pulp and wood residues of softwood and hardwood species, which were precoated with phthalic anhydride and various polymers, e.g. polystyrene and PVC, have been investigated. The extent of improvement in the mechanical properties of the composite materials depends on the coating composition, the concentration of phthalic anhydride, the nature of the coated polymers, as well as the concentration of fiber, the nature of the wood species, and the nature of the pulps. Experimental results indicate that phthalic anhydride acts as a coupling agent, but when its performance was compared to that of poly[methylene (polyphenyl isocynate)], it seemed inferior to the latter.     

Visualizing phase separation in polystyrene/polystyrene homo‐IPNs via sulfonation

BACKGROUND: Polystyrene/polystyrene (PS/PS) interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) represent ideal homo‐IPNs. Whether phase separation occurs in this system has been a long‐standing problem, which is closely related to the self‐organization mechanism in IPN formation and is important to the exploration of new polymer morphologies and properties by topological isomerism. RESULTS: A series of bead samples of PS/PS sequential IPNs with the same nominal divinylbenzene contents were synthesized by suspension polymerization, followed by sulfonation. Scanning electron micrographs and energy‐dispersive X‐ray mapping show unique distinctive topography on both surfaces and fractured surfaces and large heterogeneity in sulfonation of the PS/PS IPN beads, which for the first time provide visual evidence for dual‐phase continuity in PS/PS IPNs. CONCLUSION: The phase separation behavior is proposed to be due to hydrodynamic screening, architectural asymmetry and excluded volume interactions between network I and the precursor chains of network II. This is considered to represent pure IPN effects in sequential formation and may shed light on the general constitution mechanism and molecular design of IPN materials. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry