There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

Organoclays: Properties, preparation and applications

Nanoscale particles for polymer degradation and stabilization—Trends and future perspectives

Polymer nanocomposites from modified clays: Recent advances and challenges

The current global plastics economy is highly linear, with the exceptional performance and low carbon footprint of polymeric materials at odds with dramatic increases in plastic waste. Transitioning to a circular economy that retains plastic in its highest value condition is essential to reduce environmental impacts, promoting reduction, reuse, and recycling. Mechanical recycling is an essential tool in an environmentally and economically sustainable economy of plastics, but current mechanical recycling processes are limited by cost, degradation of mechanical properties, and inconsistent quality products. This review covers the current methods and challenges for the mechanical recycling of the five main packaging plastics: poly(ethylene terephthalate), polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, and poly(vinyl chloride) through the lens of a circular economy. Their reprocessing induced degradation mechanisms are introduced and strategies to improve their recycling are discussed. Additionally, this review briefly examines approaches to improve polymer blending in mixed plastic waste streams and applications of lower quality recyclate.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/marc.202000415

Mechanical Recycling of Packaging Plastics: A Review.

Thermal stability of nanocomposites based on polypropylene and bentonite

In recent years, polymer/clay nanocomposites have attracted considerable interest because they combine the structure and physical and chemical properties of inorganic and organic materials. Most work with polymer/clay nanocomposites has concentrated on synthetic polymers, including thermosets such as epoxy polymers, and thermoplastics, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon and poly(ethylene terephthalate) (Pandey & Mishra, 2011). Comparatively little attention has been paid to natural polymer/clay nanocomposites. However, the opportunity to combine at nanometric level clays and natural polymers (biopolymers), such as chitosan, appears as an attractive way to modify some of the properties of this polysaccharide including its mechanical and thermal behavior, solubility and swelling properties, antimicrobial activity, bioadhesion, etc. (Han et al., 2010). Chitosan/clay nanocomposites are economically interesting because they are easy to prepare and involve inexpensive chemical reagents. Chitosan, obtained from chitin, is a relatively inexpensive material because chitin is the second most abundant polymer in nature, next to cellulose (Chang & Juang, 2004). In the same way, clays are abundant and low-cost natural materials. Although chitosan/clay nanocomposites are very attractive, they were not extensively investigated, with relatively small number of scientific publications. In addition, the successful preparation of the nanocomposites still encounters problems, mainly related to the proper dispersion of nano-fillers within the polymer matrix. In this chapter, in addition to discussing the synthesis and characterisation by infrared spectroscopy of chitosan/clay nanocomposites, data of x-ray diffraction and mechanical properties are also considered.

/pdf/application-of-infrared-spectroscopy-to-analysis-of-chitosan-27li2h1dl1.pdf

Application of Infrared Spectroscopy to Analysis of Chitosan/Clay Nanocomposites

Film-forming emulsions and films, prepared by incorporating different concentrations of clove essential oil (CEO) and melaleuca essential oil (MEO) into chitosan (CS) were obtained and their properties were evaluated. Film-forming emulsions were characterized in terms of qualitative assessment, hydrogen potential and in vitro antibacterial activity, that was carried by the agar diffusion method, and the growth inhibition effects were tested on the Gram-positive microorganism of Staphylococcus aureus, Gram-negative microorganisms of Escherichia coli, and against isolated fungi such as Candida albicans. In order to study the impact of the incorporation of CEO and MEO into the CS matrix, the appearance and thickness of the films were evaluated. Furthermore, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), contact angle measurements, a swelling test, scanning electron microscopy and a tensile test were carried out. Results showed that the film-forming emulsions had translucent aspect with cloudy milky appearance and showed antimicrobial properties. The CEO had the highest inhibition against the three strains studied. As regards the films' properties, the coloration of the films was affected by the type and concentration of bioactive used. The chitosan/CEO films showed an intense yellowish coloration while the chitosan/MEO films presented a slightly yellowish coloration, but in general, all chitosan/EOs films presented good transparency in visible light besides flexibility, mechanical resistance when touched, smaller thicknesses than the dermis and higher wettability than chitosan films, in both distilled water and phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). The interactions between the chitosan and EOs were confirmed by. The chitosan/EOs films presented morphologies with rough appearance and with EOs droplets in varying shapes and sizes, well distributed along the surface of the films, and the tensile properties were compatible to be applied as wound dressings. These results revealed that the CEO and MEO have a good potential to be incorporated into chitosan to make films for wound-healing applications.

Chitosan/Essential Oils Formulations for Potential Use as Wound Dressing: Physical and Antimicrobial Properties

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is chemically degraded during processing and/or using by a number of sources including temperature, humidity, and ultraviolet radiation. As a consequence, a large loss in engineering properties is observed when PET products are recycled. To overcome this problem, various types of chain extenders were developed in an attempt to recover the polymer molecular sizes by chemical reactions during processing. This work investigates the use of triphenyl phosphite (TPP) as a chain extender of virgin and recycled PET. Compounds with 1 and 3% of TPP were prepared and processed under various conditions using a torque rheometer. An increase in torque during mixing was associated with chain extension reactions whereas the observed decrease in torque afterwards was due to chemical degradation. The optimum processing conditions were reached (260°C, 1% chain extender), with a maximum in chain extension and a minimum in subsequent degradation. An important finding of this work was that the chemical degradation of chain extended PET occurs very easily during storage and it was considered to be a result of the influence of by-products of TPP reaction with PET. The extraction of these products with acetone was shown to be quite effective, with a considerable stability during storage. This work also showed that the recycled PET is much less able to react with TPP in comparison with the virgin polymer. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 47:2155–2163, 2007. © 2007 Society of Plastics Engineers

Suédina M. L. Silva

Papers

Thermal stability of nanocomposites based on polypropylene and bentonite

Application of Infrared Spectroscopy to Analysis of Chitosan/Clay Nanocomposites

Chitosan/Essential Oils Formulations for Potential Use as Wound Dressing: Physical and Antimicrobial Properties

Chain extension and degradation during reactive processing of PET in the presence of triphenyl phosphite

Chain extension of virgin and recycled polyethylene terephthalate