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Biodegradation of packaging materials: composting of polyolefins
Author(s) -
Pandey Jitendra K.,
Kumar A. Pratheep,
Singh R.P.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
macromolecular symposia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-3900
pISSN - 1022-1360
DOI - 10.1002/masy.200350735
Subject(s) - biodegradation , compost , low density polyethylene , ethylene , copolymer , materials science , composition (language) , polyethylene , chemistry , polymer chemistry , chemical engineering , composite material , organic chemistry , waste management , polymer , catalysis , linguistics , philosophy , engineering
The compostability of LDPE, PP and heterophasic E‐P Copolymers was studied for 5 months under normal and accelerated composting environments. Bio‐susceptibility of pre‐UV (290 nm) treated films (∼ 100μm, 5 X 5 cm) was measured by monitoring the weight loss, intrinsic viscosity [η], chain scission, functional group evolution (FT‐IR) and surface morphology (SEM). It was found that with the increasing time of UV treatment, weight loss was increased in compost. Almost linear decrease in [η] was observed for irradiated and composted samples. The temperature of compost and extra addition of thermophilic microbes significantly influenced the biodegradation. In general, it was concluded that the composition of copolymer markedly affected the compostability and increased ethylene content, slowed down the microbial activity.