THE EFFECTS OF NICKEL (II) STEARATE AS AN OXIDANT ADDITIVE ON POLYPROPYLENE OXO-BIODEGRADABLE

• Main Author: GRACE SIREGAR (NIM:20516010), ANGELINA
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/25571
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Polypropylene (PP) is a polymeric material which is widely used in daily life, especially in the field of textiles, motor vehicles, household appliances, furniture, electrical appliances, and packaging. The wide applications of PP lead to enviromental problems as PP is difficult to degrade naturally. One of the possible solutions to ease the degradation process of the PP is by adding oxidant additives to result in oxo-biodegradable polypropylene. The addition of nickel (II) stearate (NiSt2) as an oxidant additives. For a PP facilitates the oxidative degradation of the polypropylene unit to result in shorter chains having carbonyl groups. The purpose of this research to study the effect of the addition of nickel (II) stearate as an oxidant additives on the structure and properties of the PP before and after degradation, both thermal degradation and biodegradation using microorganisms. Thermal degradation of the PP was done by providing heat treatment at a temperature of 60°C and 90°C, each for 10 days and the addition NiSt2 at a concentration of 0.1%, 0.5%, and 1% (w/w). The structure and properties of PP oxo-biodegradable before and after the thermal degradation were characterized through analysis of functional groups (FTIR), mechanical properties (Tensile Strength), thermal properties (TGA), the nature of the film surface (SEM), and that mass reduction analysis in biodegradation test. <br /> <br /> The FTIR spectrum of PP film shows that the carbonyl group near at 1714 cm-1 region after experiencing a thermal degradation at 60 °C and 90 °C. The mechanical properties and biodegradation test of modified PP film which was thermally degraded at 90°C cannot be analyzed because it was damaged. The intensity of the carbonyl groups after heating increases with increasing concentration of nickel (II) stearate as an additive. The mechanical strength analysis shows that the PP film with an additive oxidant before and after heating has a lower tensile strength compared to the pure PP. The analysis of the thermal properties of PP film 1% (w/w) before and after heating show a decreased thermal resistance of PP film. The mass reduction of the film was measured through biodegradation test for 30 days with a range of measurement time for 5, 10, 20, and 30 days. The biodegradation test results show an increase in mass reduction of PP oxo-biodegradable films along with the length of increasing incubation time. The pure PP film after an incubation for 30 days experiences a mass reduction of 0.42%, the PP film with the addition of 1% NiSt2 without heating experiences a mass reduction of 1.77% and the PP film with the addition of 1% NiSt2 and heated at 60 oC for 10 days experiences a mass reduction of 9.26%. The results of the mass reduction of the film are supported by the results of SEM analysis that shows hole in the surface of the polymer.