Microwave assisted low temperature catalytic processing of polypropylene (PP) waste disposal mask

• Main Author: Teo, Shawn Tien Zhi
• Other Authors: Hong Li
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2022
• Subjects: Engineering::Mechanical engineering
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/163939
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Polypropylene (PP) plastic are used in the production of face mask. The Covid 19 pandemic has caused a surge in demands for face mask, and this has greatly increased the usage of polypropylene plastic. The usage of face mask is a precautionary measure adopted worldwide to tackle the transmission of the virus, and the face mask is regarded to be one time usage and thrown away because of hygiene and effectiveness and they are thought to be ‘disposable’. However, as we all know, plastics are non-biodegradable, so they do not actually disappear. This raises concern to the disposal of such protective equipment as they will give rise to improper disposal and environmental contamination in both land and the marine. This study will focus on breaking the carbon bond in the polypropylene by introducing oxygen into the structure to partial oxidize the PP with microwave energy and to convert it into useful product such as chemical feedstock that has high value potential. Also, to identify a feasible parameter to degrade the disposable surgical face mask that are used daily. The PP product is prepared by manually cutting the face mask into tiny pieces and mixed evenly with the catalyst and to grind the catalyst with the PP to have better contact surface for reaction.