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The disintegration rate of traditional and chemically modified plastic films in simulated fresh‐ and sea‐water environments
Author(s) -
Leonas Karen K.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.1993.070471203
Subject(s) - low density polyethylene , materials science , ultimate tensile strength , biodegradation , starch , polyethylene , weathering , chemical engineering , composite material , polymer chemistry , chemistry , organic chemistry , geology , engineering , geomorphology
Six plastic films with varying chemical compositions in three different accelerated weathering environments were evaluated for disintegration. The films included two traditional films (LDPE and polystyrene), three with enhanced photodegradability (2% ECO and 10% ECO and LDPE with a vinyl ketone graft), and one with enhanced biodegradability (LDPE with 6% corn starch). The films were exposed to UVA‐340 bulbs to simulate sunlight while in fresh water, salt water, or no water conditions. Disintegration of the films was determined by monitoring the change in physical properties of tensile strength at break, elongation at break, and toughness at break at selected intervals throughout the exposure period. Both the chemical composition of the film and the exposure environment produced significant differences in disintegration rates. Two of the films with enhanced photodegradability (2% and 10% ECO copolymers) disintegrated more rapidly than did the other films in this study. The environment where no water was present resulted in the fastest disintegration rate for the films when compared with the fresh‐water environment. However, two films, LDPE and LDPE with 6% corn starch, degraded more rapidly in the salt‐water environment than in the other two environments due to the presence of oxidation catalysts in the water system. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.