Caracterização das propriedades dos filamentos de polipropileno reciclado e possíveis aplicações têxteis

Abstract

Synthetic melt spinning occurs through a process that transforms thermoplastic polymers, through temperature and extrusion, into filaments. One of the polymers used in this process is polypropylene (PP), which has a wide range of applications in the textile chain, being found in the domestic, technical, clothing and medical segments. With high production, disposal also becomes high, as polypropylene products are a type of plastic and take around 400 years to degrade in the environment, recycling this polymer is explored. However, degradation processes during the useful life of the products and during recycling can change the properties and characteristics of the polymer. Thus, the present work carried out a comparative study between virgin and recycled polypropylene in the polymer configuration, analyzing the behavior of the materials through Thermogravimetric, Differential Scanning Calorimetry and X-Ray Diffraction analyses, from which it was possible to verify the melting and degradation temperatures for establish the extruder heating range, in addition to defining that the crystallinity was not significantly altered by recycling. The extrusion of different proportions of virgin and recycled polypropylene composition (PPv/PPr) 30/70, 50/50 and 70/30 was carried out, to evaluate the viability of PPr for alternative textile applications. Thermogravimetric analysis, Differential Exploratory Calorimetry, X-ray Diffraction, Infrared Spectroscopy with Fourrier Transform and Scanning Electron Microscopy were used, and it can be observed that the PPv/PPr 30/70 filament showed similar behavior to the virgin polypropylene filament regarding thermal, chemical and physical characteristics, indirectly the use of PPr can be considered for sustainable textile products, even more so due to its contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the financial gains that can be obtained from the use of recycled polypropylene.