Separation of polycarbonate and acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene waste plastics by froth flotation combined with ammonia pretreatment

Journal Article · Mon Dec 15 00:00:00 EST 2014 · Waste Management

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/J.WASMAN.2014.09.002· OSTI ID:22443567

Wang, Chong-qing; Wang, Hui; Liu, Qun; Fu, Jian-gang; Liu, You-nian

Highlights: • Ammonia treatment changes selectively floatability of PC. • The effects of ammonia on PC were investigated through contact angle and XPS. • Reactions between ammonia and PC surface make PC more hydrophilic. • PC and ABS mixtures with different particle sizes were separated effectively. - Abstract: The objective of this research is flotation separation of polycarbonate (PC) and acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS) waste plastics combined with ammonia pretreatment. The PC and ABS plastics show similar hydrophobicity, and ammonia treatment changes selectively floatability of PC plastic while ABS is insensitive to ammonia treatment. The contact angle measurement indicates the dropping of flotation recovery of PC is ascribed to a decline of contact angle. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy demonstrates reactions occur on PC surface, which makes PC surface more hydrophilic. Separation of PC and ABS waste plastics was conducted based on the flotation behavior of single plastic. At different temperatures, PC and ABS mixtures were separated efficiently through froth flotation with ammonia pretreatment for different time (13 min at 23 °C, 18 min at 18 °C and 30 min at 23 °C). For both PC and ABS, the purity and recovery is more than 95.31% and 95.35%, respectively; the purity of PC and ABS is up to 99.72% and 99.23%, respectively. PC and ABS mixtures with different particle sizes were separated effectively, implying that ammonia treatment possesses superior applicability.

• OSTI ID: 22443567
• Journal Information: Waste Management, Vol. 34, Issue 12; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2014 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0956-053X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC
ORGANIC
PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES, AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
ACRYLONITRILE
AMMONIA
BUTADIENE
FLOTATION
MATERIALS RECOVERY
MIXTURES
PARTICLE SIZE
PLASTICS
POLYCARBONATES
RECYCLING
STYRENE
SURFACES
WASTES
X-RAY PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY