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Influence of Chain Extension and Blending on Crystallinity and Morphological Behavior of Recycled-PET/Ethylene Vinyl Acetate Blends

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Abstract

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling is investigated in this work. PET is a polymer in which hydrolytic degradation of polymeric chains occurs during thermomechanical reprocessing. This kind of processing yields poor melt strength and low viscosity for recycled polyethylene terephthalate (RPET). The chain extension effect of pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA) on phase morphology and crystallinity of the RPET and polyethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) blends is verified or the first time including crystallization, thermal behavior and morphologies of the blended samples. First, RPET/EVA blends were prepared with 90/10, 70/30 and 60/40 weight ratio in an internal mixer. Pure RPET and virgin PET (VPET) were also reprocessed for comparison. Samples of RPET/EVA, VPET/EVA, RPET/EVA/PMDA and VPET/EVA/PMDA were examined using RPET (or VPET)/EVA = 60/40 (w/w) and 0.5% for PMDA. Both XRD and DSC tests revealed that PMDA and EVA reduce the rate and degree of crystallinity in PET, however, PMDA and PET increase both rate and degree of crystallinity in EVA. SEM images also illustrated RPET/EVA blend to be in co-continuous morphology while adding 0.5 wt% PMDA to the blend changes the structure to microfibrillar matrix-disperse state.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to express their gratitude from Research Organization of the Sahand University of Technology for the supports and equipment and also partial financial aids.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Polymer Engineering, Sahand University of Technology, Tabriz, 51335-1996, Iran

    Sajjad Moghanlou, Mahdi Khamseh, Mirkarim Razavi Aghjeh & Behzad Pourabbas

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  1. Sajjad Moghanlou
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  2. Mahdi Khamseh
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  3. Mirkarim Razavi Aghjeh
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  4. Behzad Pourabbas
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Correspondence to Behzad Pourabbas.

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Moghanlou, S., Khamseh, M., Razavi Aghjeh, M. et al. Influence of Chain Extension and Blending on Crystallinity and Morphological Behavior of Recycled-PET/Ethylene Vinyl Acetate Blends. J Polym Environ 28, 1526–1533 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-020-01699-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-020-01699-7

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