Avaliação da degradação do polietileno contendo aditivo pró-degradante em diferentes meios de exposição

Abstract

The extensive application of polymers, due to technological progress in several areas and to economic reasons, has increased the amount of this material in landfills and home and industrial embankments. Thermoplastic polymers degrade gradually or fast, depending on the chemical nature and environmental conditions. Polymers with prooxidant, based on metals, whose function is to accelerate the degradation process, have called attention of academy and industry. However, it is of technological and scientific interest the valuation of their real degradation conditions and the byproducts from their degradation processes on the environment. In this work, films prepared from the mixture of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) with different fractions of pro-oxidant were studied in two distinct environments: in composting (in real scale for 505 days) and in soil burial test (according to ASTM G 160-3 for 90 days). Different degradation initiation processes of the polyethylene samples (with prooxidant) were tested by accelerated aging, weathering and heat. Pro-oxidant was studied by biosorption of metals by fungals of genus Pleorotus sajor-caju, besides phytotoxicity tests to valuate the germination and growth of plants. In order to follow the degradation processes of the films, the following techniques were used: Infrared Spectroscopy, Differential Scanning Calorimetry, Thermogravimetry, Optical and Scanning Electronic Microscopy and Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. Concerning the abiotic processes of degradation initiation, we concluded that the process of exposure to heat was the most effective, promoting the chain oxidation of the films containing pro-oxidant, after 113 days of exposure. However, 180 days of exposure to weathering were not enough to observe this phenomenon, regardless the presence of pro-oxidant. The degradation initiation by accelerated aging (72 and 144 h) of polyethylene films with pro-oxidant favoured the subsequent biotic processes in soil burial. The different microrganisms present on different environments (composting and soil burial) were essential for the occurrence of degradation of the polyethylene films with pro-oxidant. Changes in surface color of the films (due to biofilm formation), prominences, cracks, pores and fragmentations were also observed, all features of the biodegradation process. The fungals Pleorotus sajor-caju were efficient in removing some metals (Al, Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, K, Na e Zn) present in the pro-oxidant and in the masterbatch. The results for germination and growth of the plants showed that the pro-oxidant has not caused phytotoxic effects in the environments, favouring the growth of the roots and enabling a higher vegetative growth of the plants. The efficiency of the prooxidants in biotic degradation of polyethylene films is only evident by means of induced oxidation by abiotic processes of accelerated aging and heat, for the exposure times mentioned in this work.