Prospects for Recyclable Multilayer Packaging: A Case Study.

Food preservation is an essential application for polymers, particularly in packaging. Complex multilayer films, such as those used for modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), extend the shelf life of sensitive foods. These mostly contain various polymers to achieve the necessary combination of mechanic, optic, and barrier properties that limit their recyclability. As the European Union's Circular Economy Action Plan calls for sustainable products and business models, including waste prevention policies and recycling quotas, with plastic packaging being a high priority, solutions towards more sustainable multilayer packaging are urgently needed. This study evaluated and compared the recycling potential of functionally equivalent PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and PP (polypropylene) post-consumer MAP through structure analysis and recycling simulation. The structure analysis revealed that both types of MAP contained functional (stability) and barrier layers (oxygen and moisture). The recycling simulation showed that the PP-based packaging was recyclable 10 times, maintaining its mechanical properties and functionality. At the same time, the PET-based MAP resulted in a highly brittle material that was unsuitable for reprocessing into similar economic value products. The secondary material from the PP-based MAP was successfully manufactured into films, demonstrating the functional possibility of closed-loop recycling. The transition from a linear to a circular economy for MAP is currently still limited by safety concerns due to a lack of sufficient and efficient purification methods, but the proper design of multilayers for recyclability is a first step towards circularity.

A stereochemical switch in the aDrs model system, a candidate for a functional amyloid.

Amyloid fibrils are commonly observed to adopt multiple distinct morphologies, which eventually can have significantly different neurotoxicities, as e.g. demonstrated in case of the Alzheimer peptide. The architecture of amyloid deposits is apparently also determined by the stereochemistry of amino acids. Post-translational changes of the chirality of certain residues may thus be a factor in controlling the formation of functional or disease-related amyloids. Anionic dermaseptin (aDrs), an unusual peptide from the skin secretions of the frog Pachymedusa dacnicolor, assembles to amyloid-like fibrils in a pH-dependent manner, which could play a functional role in defense. aDrs can be enzymatically converted into the diastereomer [d-Leu2]-aDrs by an l/d-isomerase. EM and AFM on fibrils formed by these isomers have shown that their predominant morphology is controlled by the stereochemistry of residue 2, whereas kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of aggregation are barely affected. When fibrils were grown from preformed seeds, backbone stereochemistry rather than templating-effects apparently dominated the superstructural organization of the isomers. Interestingly, MD indicated small differences in the conformational propensities between the isomers. Our results demonstrate how d-amino acid substitutions could take active part in the formation of functional or disease-related amyloid. Moreover, these findings contribute to the development of amyloid-based nanomaterials.

Long chain branching as an innovative up-cycling process of polypropylene post-consumer waste - Possibilities and limitations.

Long chain branching (LCB) was used the first time as an innovative tool for value adding to PP from household post-consumer waste. Due to the highly improved melt properties, the possible application profile is extended and not only a "re-cycling" process, even a real "up-cycling" is presented. The used PP was collected from commingled household polyolefin waste, which contained different types of PP and macromolecular impurities such as 10% of polyethylene with high density (PE-HD). In addition, a single PP waste fraction from cleaned beverage and yoghurt cups was manually sorted. The up-cycled PP from single polymer waste, as well as the post-consumer blend, showed pronounced strain hardening and increased melt strength, which was comparable to LCB-PP prepared from virgin PP. However, the up-cycled post-consumer blend showed weaker mechanical performance especially low elongation at break due to PE-HD.

Influence of the Molar Mass on Long-Chain Branching of Polypropylene.

Long-chain branching (LCB) with peroxydicarbonates (PODIC) is known as a suitable post-reactor process to introduce strain-hardening behaviour and an increase of melt strength to a linear polypropylene (PP). This opens up new possibilities for processing and therefore application. Especially in the case of adding value to PP post-consumer waste, LCB is a promising approach. LCB takes place by a combination of chain scission and recombination after radical activation of the PP macromolecule. However, chemical modification of post-consumer waste is challenging because of the inhomogeneous composition and the manifold number of PP grades. The influence of the molar mass of the linear PP precursor on this reaction was studied with different PP grades ranging from extrusion grade to injection moulding grade. To exclude side effects, all PP grades had similar polydispersity indices. A PP with higher molar mass undergoes significant chain scission during the LCB process compared to a PP with low molar mass for injection moulding. Therefore, the two grades differ significantly in their branching number, which influences their behaviour in elongational flow.

Failure analysis of retrieved PE-UHMW acetabular liners.

Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (PE-UHMW) acetabular liners have a limited lifespan in a patient's body. There are many factors affecting the performance of the implant and furthermore the properties of the polymeric material are changing after implantation. In this work material changes according to structure and morphology and their implication on mechanical properties are in focus. The physical and mechanical properties of ten crosslinked (xL) PE-UHMW and nine conventional (conv) gamma-sterilized PE-UHMW hip components, used as sliding surface in total hip joint replacement, with different in-vivo times are compared. The evaluation of the retrieved acetabular liners is performed in view of crosslinking and conventional gamma-sterilization but also in terms of the influence of gender concerning alteration in properties. The oxidative degradation in the PE-UHMW is investigated by means of Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The characterization of the morphology is carried out via differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). A depth profile of the micro-hardness and elastic modulus is taken over the cross-section of the components in order to find the influence of chemical constitution and morphology on the micro-mechanical properties. It could be shown that crosslinking and oxidative degradation influence the degree of crystallinity of the polymer. Oxidation occurs for both types of the material due to in-vivo time. Higher degree of crystallinity can be correlated to higher hardness and indentation modulus. No unequivocal superiority of crosslinked over conventional liners can be observed. The influence of sex concerning alteration of the evaluated properties matters but need to be further investigated.