New methods to remove volatile organic compounds from post-consumer plastic waste was written by Cabanes, A.;Fullana, A.. And the article was included in Science of the Total Environment in 2021.SDS of cas: 111-77-3 This article mentions the following:
While the annual European demand for polyolefins is 25 million tonnes, only 3 million tonnes of recycled polyolefins find their place in the market, despite collecting 15 million tonnes of post-consumer polyolefins every year. Brand owners of care products are showing their interest in using post-consumer recycled plastics for their packaging. However, there is a general concern in using these materials, as recycled polymers can contain unwanted substances that may expose the consumer to health risks or make the packaging unattractive. Accordingly, the presence of these contaminants narrows the market opportunity of recycled plastics to applications with low-quality requirements and in which the product is not in direct contact with the consumer. Though mech. recycling is the most widespread solution presents limitations in terms of decontamination, as only superficial substances are removed. Thereby, the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) migrated to the polymer matrix remain inside. Consequently, there is a need to find a solution to purify recycled plastics and increase their market share. This study focuses on removing VOCs from post-consumer recycled HDPE through two innovative methods applied for the first time in this field, steam stripping and polyethylene glycol (PEG) extraction The methodol. implemented to analyze the volatile organic compounds in HDPE was HS-SPME-GC/MS. Both methods showed a decrease above 70% in the VOCs content compared to extrusion-degassing. Moreover, these were compared to hot air stripping, a new technol. developed at an industrial scale for the removal of VOCs. As a result, steam stripping improved efficiency in reducing the overall VOCs compared to hot air stripping. The PEG extraction method lowered the volatile polar compounds further than using hot air stripping. Addnl., none of these technologies modified the HDPE melting flow index. In the experiment, the researchers used many compounds, for example, 2-(2-Methoxyethoxy)ethanol (cas: 111-77-3SDS of cas: 111-77-3).
2-(2-Methoxyethoxy)ethanol (cas: 111-77-3) belongs to ethers. Of all the functional groups, ethers are the least reactive ones. Ether bonds are quite stable towards bases, oxidizing agents and reducing agents. But on the other hand, ethers undergo cleavage by reaction with acids. Autoxidation is the spontaneous oxidation of a compound in air. In the presence of oxygen, ethers slowly autoxidize to form hydroperoxides and dialkyl peroxides. If concentrated or heated, these peroxides may explode. To prevent such explosions, ethers should be obtained in small quantities, kept in tightly sealed containers, and used promptly.SDS of cas: 111-77-3
Referemce:
Ether – Wikipedia,
Ether | (C2H5)2O – PubChem