Selective flotation separation of ABS/PC from ESR plastic wastes mixtures assisted by ultrasonic catalyst/H2O2

Abstract

The present study investigated the potential recycles of acrylonitile butadiene styrene terpolymers (ABS) from their blends with polymethylmehtacrylate (PMMA), polyCarbonate (PC) and high impact polyStyrene (HIPS) using flotation separation assisted by ultrasonic catalyst/H2O2. The effect of various factors such as H2O2 dose, duty cycle and contact time of the ultrasonication on the recovery rate and purity of ABS/PC were conducted. The results showed that H2O2 dose significantly influenced on the recovery rate of ABS/PC and the optimized H2O2 dose was found at 2%. The recovery rate and the purity of submerged ABS/PC reached 99.5 and 98.6%, respectively, at 300 s of contact time. The duty cycle and the contact time of the ultrasonification also exhibited highly effective for the recycle of ABS/PC from the plastic waste mixtures. The radical scavengers and the mechanism of flotation separation of ABS/PC by ultrasonic catalyst/H2O2 were proposed. Additionally, the economic potential and environmental impacts were discussed. These findings are crucial for flotation separation of ABS/PC from the plastic waste mixtures assisted by ultrasonic catalyst/H2O2 with high recovery rate and purity of ABS/PC in order to produce further value added products as well as reduce the environmental impact of plastic waste. - 2019 Elsevier Ltd.