Degradation Studies of Polypropylene Fibers and Nonwovens with Prodegradant additives

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate an inexpensive pro-oxidant and pro-degradant additive system that can be applied during melt processing to produce biodegradable polyolefin-based (PP) nonwovens. The first phase of this research dealt with polypropylene filaments with pro-degradant additives. PP filaments with TDPAâ„¢ and ECM MasterBatch Pelletsâ„¢ additives were spun and characterized for their physical and chemical properties after xenon arc lamp exposure. Tensile studies showed significant loss of elongation and tenacity in additive containing samples on xenon arc lamp exposure. IR studies confirmed the formation of carbonyl compounds marked by an increase in carbonyl and hydroxyl index thereby indicating the occurrence of photooxidation of polypropylene. The second phase of the research involved the production of spunbond polypropylene nonwovens with TDPAâ„¢ and ECM MasterBatch Pelletsâ„¢ additives. These nonwovens were subjected to 3 types of degradation i. e. abiotic conditions of xenon arc lamp exposure and biotic conditions of vermicomposting and soil burial and subsequently characterized for their physical and chemical properties. Xenon arc lamp exposed nonwovens showed a drastic reduction in tensile strength (peak load) as compared to vermicomposted and soil buried samples. IR studies confirmed the occurrence of bio-chemical degradation having occurred in soil buried samples. It can be inferred that degradation of polypropylene filaments and nonwovens with additives depends on various factors like the additive type (TDPAâ„¢ or ECM MasterBatch Pelletsâ„¢) or the amount of the additive used, type and nature of degradation carried out (abiotic or biotic).