INFLUENCE OF THE INCORPORATION OF PRO-DEGRADANTS IN HDPE/LDPE FILMS PROCESSED BY BLOW EXTRUSION

Abstract

Polyethylene (PE) is one of the most used polymers in the world, mainly in the production of disposable packaging, such as bags. The low cost and the ease of processing the different types of polyethylene favor your choice. On the other hand, as it is a polyolefinic polymer, it presents low degradability, resulting in its accumulation, together with other plastic materials, in the environment, which is a concern of governments and environmentalists. As a way of reducing the problem, pro-degrading additives have been added to polyethylene, during its processing, to facilitate its abiotic degradation. It is known that the polymer and the additive are exposed to high temperatures and mechanical shear in the presence of air during the extrusion process, which could initiate its oxidative thermomechanical degradation. In this sense, the objective of the present work is to evaluate some of the properties that can be changed when a mixture of polyethylene is extruded with the incorporation of pro-degrading additives. The materials used were: high density polyethylene (HDPE), low density polyethylene (LDPE), and the commercial additive d2w^TM and benzoin were used as pro-degrading. The properties evaluated in this work were: surface (contact angle), optical (color and transparency) and thermal (DSC). Results of this study indicate that benzoin accelerates the process of abiotic degradation of PE and that this chemical compound may be a possible pro-degrading agent of organic nature to be used in the future for bags.