Quality comparison of plastic packaging waste from different separation systems: Result enhancement with non-negative matrix factorization of FTIR spectra.

Whether plastic packaging waste is disposed of in different bins (source separation, S) or in a single bin (post source separation, P) is generally assumed to impact the waste stream's quality. To elucidate this question, we evaluated the quality of LDPE, HDPE, and PP plastic waste from both separation systems (S and P) through a concise analytical strategy. The materials received similar treatment after collection (e.

Strategies to Cope with Inferior Long-Term Photostability of Bentonite Polyolefin Nanocomposites.

This study provides insight into the causes of inferior long-term stability of nanocomposites based on organic layered silicates (OLSs) used for cable mantles. A hierarchy was established by analyzing bentonite products and their respective polyolefin nanocomposites. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), gas adsorption, energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), and infrared spectroscopy (IR) provided evidence for the adsorption of stabilizers onto the filler surface and thus their reduction in activity, promoting polymer oxidation.

Unraveling the comonomer distribution in ethylene - vinyl ester terpolymers through liquid chromatography with infrared detection.

Polyolefins are the most commercially relevant polymers by volume. A readily available feedstock and their tailor-made microstructure allow to adapt polyolefins to many fields of application. Important molecular design features of olefin copolymers are the molar mass distribution (MMD) with the corresponding average values, comonomer type, chemical composition distribution (CCD) with the corresponding average and the tacticity distribution (TD).

Accurate determination of the layer thickness of a multilayer polymer film by non-invasive multivariate confocal Raman microscopy.

Plastic films of multiple layers are widely used in packaging. While a detailed spatially resolving analysis is highly relevant, the currently used approaches are either tedious or lack spatial resolution. An advanced method of confocal Raman microscopy was therefore developed in this work, using a water immersion objective combined with multivariate data analysis and ray tracing models for analysing a commercial-grade five-layer plastic film.