Surface treatment with Fenton for separation of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene and polyvinylchloride waste plastics by flotation.

Surface treatment with Fenton was applied to flotation separation of acrylonitrile-butadienestyrene (ABS) and polyvinylchloride (PVC). After treatment, the floatability of ABS has a dramatic decrease, while the floatability of PVC is not affected. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) spectra and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra were recorded to ascertain the mechanism of Fenton treatment. FT-IR and XPS analysis confirms that the introduction of oxygen-containing group occurs on the surface of ABS. The optimum conditions are molar ration (H2O2:Fe2+) 10000, H2O2 concentration 0.4M/L, pH 5.8, treatment time 2min and temperature 25°C, frother concentration 15mg/L and flotation time 3min. Particle sizes and mixing ratios were also investigated. Plastic mixtures of ABS and PVC with different particle sizes and mixing ratios can be effectively separated. The purity of ABS and PVC are up to 100% and 99.78%, respectively; the recovery of ABS and PVC are up to 99.89% and 100%, respectively. A practical, environmentally friendly and effective reagent, namely Fenton, was originally applied to surface treatment of ABS and PVC waste plastics for flotation separation of their mixtures.

A novel process for separation of polycarbonate, polyvinyl chloride and polymethyl methacrylate waste plastics by froth flotation.

A novel process was proposed for separation of ternary waste plastics by froth flotation. Pretreatment of plastics with potassium permanganate (KMnO4) solution was conducted to aid flotation separation of polycarbonate (PC), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) plastics. The effect of pretreatment parameters including KMnO4 concentration, treatment time, temperature and stirring rate on flotation recovery were investigated by single factor experiments. Surface treatment with KMnO4 changes selectively the flotation behavior of PC, PVC and PMMA, enabling separation of the plastics by froth flotation. Mechanism of surface treatment was studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectrum (XPS). Effect of frother concentration and flotation time on flotation behavior of plastic mixtures was further studied for flotation separation. The optimized conditions for separation of PC are KMnO4 concentration 2mmolL-1, treatment time 10min, temperature 60°C, stirring rate 300rpm, flotation time 1min and frother concentration 17.5mgL-1. Under optimum conditions, PVC and PMMA mixtures are also separated efficiently by froth flotation associated with KMnO4 treatment. The purity of PC, PVC and PMMA is up to 100%, 98.41% and 98.68%, while the recovery reaches 96.82%, 98.71% and 98.38%, respectively. Economic analysis manifests remarkable profits of the developed process. Reusing KMnO4 solution is feasible, enabling the process greener.

Ammonia modification for flotation separation of polycarbonate and polystyrene waste plastics.

A promising method, ammonia modification, was developed for flotation separation of polycarbonate (PC) and polystyrene (PS) waste plastics. Ammonia modification has little effect on flotation behavior of PS, while it changes significantly that of PC. The PC recovery in the floated product drops from 100% to 3.17% when modification time is 13min and then rises to 100% after longer modification. The mechanism of ammonia modification was studied by contact angle, and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements. Contact angle of PC indicates the decline of PC recovery in the floated product is ascribed to an increase in surface wettability. FT-IR and XPS spectra suggest that ammonia modification causes chemical reactions occurred on PC surface. Flotation behavior of ammonia-modified PC and PS was investigated with respect to flotation time, frother concentration and particle sizes. Flotation separation of PC and PS waste plastics was conducted based on the flotation behavior of single plastic. PC and PS mixtures with different particle sizes are separated efficiently, implying that the technology possesses superior applicability to particle sizes of plastics. The purity of PS and PC is up to 99.53% and 98.21%, respectively, and the recovery of PS and PC is larger than 92.06%. A reliable, cheap and effective process is proposed for separation of PC and PS waste plastics.