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Photodegradation of low‐density polyethylene with prooxidant and photocatalyst
Author(s) -
Gharehdashli Abdolnaser,
Mortazavi Saeed,
Rashidi Hamed
Publication year - 2020
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.48979
Subject(s) - low density polyethylene , photodegradation , crystallinity , materials science , stearate , polyethylene , differential scanning calorimetry , thermogravimetric analysis , photocatalysis , scanning electron microscope , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , thermal stability , chemical engineering , nuclear chemistry , polymer chemistry , composite material , chemistry , organic chemistry , catalysis , engineering , physics , thermodynamics
Low‐density polyethylene (LDPE) composite films with trisilver phosphate (Ag 3 PO 4 ) and cadmium selenide (CdSe) particles as photocatalysts and manganese stearate as prooxidant were prepared. The film samples were irradiated under UV and visible light and their photodegradation were evaluated using Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry. The carbonyl index of the photocatalyst containing samples was very higher than the pure irradiated LDPE and even prooxidant containing film. The morphologies of the irradiated composite films were completely changed and had many cavities and cracks. The thermal stability of the composites was very lower than the pure polyethylene. However the crystallinity of the LDPE films with photocatalysts was enhanced contrarily the LDPE film with manganese stearate. Generally the results showed that the combination of the prooxidant with photocatalyst have synergistic effect on the photodegradation of the LDPE and can be used to accelerate the degradation of the polyethylene films.