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Heterocoagulation of TiO2 pigment for solvent-based recycling of thermoplastic polymers
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Scientists found a way to filter out tiny titanium dioxide particles, a common white pigment, from melted plastic waste using special chemicals that clump the particles together. This matters because better plastic recycling means fewer contaminants end up in recycled products and less waste ends up polluting our environment as microplastics.
The removal of contaminants from plastic waste is essential to produce high-quality recyclates. In solvent-based recycling, insoluble contaminants are typically separated by filtration or centrifugation. Although the removal of insoluble additives from polymer solutions has been investigated, alternative separation techniques are required when additive particle sizes approach the lower applicability limits of filtration and centrifugation, as in the case of fine TiO₂. This study proposes heterocoagulation as a technique to facilitate the solid–liquid separation of TiO₂ from dissolved PS and PVC. An initial screening of 11 flocculants/heterocoagulants in four organic solvents (cyclohexanone, xylene, ethyl acetate, and toluene) confirms the feasibility of TiO₂ heterocoagulation in organic media. Cationic polyacrylamide and poly(ethylene glycol) were revealed to be the best heterocoagulants (among those tested), and xylene the best solvent. Potential mechanisms of the heterocoagulation were explored, by studying the surface charge of particles, through zeta potential measurements, and the apolar interactions, by calculating the hydrogen bonding and Van der Waals energy, using COSMO-RS. Tests were also performed on polymer solutions of pure, model and waste samples of PS and PVC, at different concentrations (e.g. 1 wt%, 5 wt%). Turbidity reductions up to 99% were achieved, with PS typically giving better results compared to PVC samples. Analysis of the purified polymer solutions revealed concentrations close to the initial values, indicating negligible polymer loss to the heteroaggregates and enabling polymer recovery.
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