I am working on recycled cups made by Polystyrene and I am trying to dissolve them completely in Acetone and/or Ethyl Acetate solvent. However, it is quite hard to get it and I am not obtaining a monophasic solution without residuals of polymer.
Have I to consider other factors in this process? Is there, for instance, a conformal degradation/change of the polymer chains, which hampers dissolution of Polystyrene?
What is the minimum amount of Polystyrene I can use to dissolve/dilute it in Ethyl Acetate or Acetone? Is there any tables available to get data from there about the limit of solubility of the previously mentioned solute and solvents?
Dear Alessandra Truppi, please have a look at the RG link below. Solubility of polymers is a direct function of two contributing factors: the intermolecular secondary forces interaction, represented by the cohesive energy density (CED), and chain length represented by molecular weight (MW). Note that this later parameter becomes more dominating solubility once the MW exceeded a critical value for entanglements, which are knots between chains. My Regards
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/362009596_Toward_More_Universal_Prediction_of_Polymer_Solution_Viscosity_for_Solvent-Based_Recycling
There may be some cross linking of the polystyrene which will render some of it insoluble
ACS Sustain Chem Eng. 2024 Mar 18; 12(11): 4619–4630.
Published online 2024 Mar 4. doi: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c08154
PMCID: PMC10952012
PMID: 38516401
Increasing the Dissolution Rate of Polystyrene Waste in Solvent-Based Recycling
Rita Kol,†‡ Ruben Denolf,† Gwendoline Bernaert,† Dave Manhaeghe,† Ezra Bar-Ziv,§ George W. Huber,∥ Norbert Niessner,⊥ Michiel Verswyvel,# Angeliki Lemonidou,∇ Dimitris S. Achilias,‡ and Steven De Meester*†
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Abstract
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Solvent-based recycling of plastic waste is a promising approach for cleaning polymer chains without breaking them. However, the time required to actually dissolve the polymer in a lab environment can take hours. Different factors play a role in polymer dissolution, including temperature, turbulence, and solvent properties. This work provides insights into bottlenecks and opportunities to increase the dissolution rate of polystyrene in solvents. The paper starts with a broad solvent screening in which the dissolution times are compared. Based on the ex
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