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Characterization of Polymer Waste Containing Nano-fillers Prior its End-of-Life Treatment

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Abstract

This study aimed to characterize a polymer waste, originating from polyorganosiloxane polymerization processes, prior its end-of-life treatment in order to identify and quantify the possibly contained nano-fillers. The polymer waste was first characterized in terms of its physical–chemical properties by combining different approaches and analytic techniques such as standard ultimate and elemental analysis or techniques like infrared spectroscopy or thermogravimetric analysis coupled with gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy to define the polymer waste molecular structure. The second step was devoted to identify and characterize the nano-fillers contained in the polymer waste, if any, in terms of particle size distribution, morphology and composition. Due to the thermal degradability of the polymer waste above 50 °C, the cryo-ultramicrotomy and the transmission electron microscopy techniques were used. Polydimethylsiloxane was identified as the core polymer unit, and the presence of the suspected SiO2 nano-fillers was confirmed, with three different morphologies detected: elongated and hexagonal, both found in the particle size range of 100–500 nm in diameter; and spherical, present in the population of particles ≤100 nm in diameter. In particular, a relatively large amount of K (2.81 wt%) was also identified in the waste. The mass content of SiO2 nano-fillers in the polymer waste was estimated to 24.4 wt%.

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Acknowledgements

This project, entitled NanoFlueGas, was financially supported by the French Agency for Environment and Energy Management (ADEME) through its CORTEA funding scheme (Grant No. 1181C0088). The authors would like to thank the IMN Laboratory for microscopic analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. GEPEA, UMR6144, Mines Nantes, CNRS, 4 rue Alfred Kastler, BP 20722, 44307, Nantes Cedex 03, France

    Dinh Trinh Tran, Aurélie Joubert & Laurence Le Coq

  2. INERIS, Parc Technologique Alata, BP 2, 60550, Verneuil-En-Halatte, France

    Dinh Trinh Tran & Olivier Le Bihan

  3. R&D Dept., TREDI - Séché Environnement, 9 avenue de la Forêt de Haye, CS 50184, 54505, Vandœuvre-Lès-Nancy, France

    Danielle Venditti & Sylvain Durecu

  4. Séché Alliance, Les Hêtres, BP 20, 53810, Changé, France

    Thierry Meunier

  5. Agence de l’Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l’Energie, 20 avenue du Grésillé, BP 90406, 49004, Angers Cedex 01, France

    Emmanuel Fiani

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  1. Dinh Trinh Tran
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  2. Aurélie Joubert
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  3. Danielle Venditti
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  8. Laurence Le Coq
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Correspondence to Aurélie Joubert.

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Tran, D.T., Joubert, A., Venditti, D. et al. Characterization of Polymer Waste Containing Nano-fillers Prior its End-of-Life Treatment. Waste Biomass Valor 8, 2463–2471 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-016-9757-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-016-9757-0

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