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Recovery of photodegraded polymers by surface treatment
Author(s) -
Decker Christian
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
makromolekulare chemie. macromolecular symposia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-3900
pISSN - 0258-0322
DOI - 10.1002/masy.19920570109
Subject(s) - materials science , polymer , weathering , acrylic resin , acrylic polymer , composite material , transparency (behavior) , layer (electronics) , chemical engineering , coating , computer science , monomer , geomorphology , engineering , geology , computer security
A two‐step process has been developed in order to renovate highly photodegraded polymers. It was applied to clear and pigmented commercial PVC plates, which were exposed to accelerated weathering. The brown highly degraded top layer was first removed by sandpapering, which makes the color disappear and restores the original impact resistance of PVC. In a second step, a thin film of a UV‐curable acrylic resin was sprayed onto the PVC plate, which thus recovered its initial transparency. After a 1s UV exposure, the coated PVC was found to exhibit an excellent resistance to chemicals, weathering and scratching. One of the distinct advantages of this new low‐cost recycling process is that it is based on existing technologies and can be carried out directly on the plastic structures to be renovated.