Demixing of PP/PS blends by near critical selective solubilization

MARTINI, RAQUEL; BARBOSA, SILVIA; BRIGNOLE, ESTEBAN

Orlando, Estados Unidos

Simposio; 7th International Symposium on Supercritical Fluids (ISSF2005); 2005

The polymer blends separation by traditional methods (Soxhlet) is very difficult because of their high molecular weight molecules. In this work, a systematic study of PP/PS blends demixing is presented. First, the selectivity of n-alkanes was explored at high pressure and over a wide range of temperatures on pure polymers. From this study the processing window for blend separation was assessed. Also, the influence of the blend morphology and composition on the separation efficiency was analyzed. It was demonstrated that the method proposed for blend separation is easy, rapid and accurate for the systems analyzed.