PHOTOCATALYTIC DEGRADATION OF LOW DENSITY POLYETHYLENE (LDPE) FILMS USING TITANIA NANOTUBES

Abstract

Polyethylene (PE) waste disposal is one of the critical issues of the modern lifestyle which poses serious threat to human health and environment. The present study was designed to investigate the photocatalytic degradation of LDPE films using titania nanotubes (TNTs) under UV and visible light while carrying out a comparative study using titania nanoparticles (TNPs) under the same experimental conditions. Dye sensitization of the nanostructures was done to enhance their catalytic efficiency. TNPs and TNTs were prepared from general purpose TiO2 by liquid impregnation and hydrothermal methods respectively. LDPE films with or without the nanomaterial were prepared by dissolving LDPE pellets in cyclohexane and evaporating the solvent in Petri plates. These LDPE films were then kept under UV and visible light separately for upto 45 days. The degradation of pure and composite LDPE films was measured in terms of photo induced weight loss and was confirmed by FTIR, SEM, surface roughness and tensile strength testing. The results show that the dye sensitized titania nanotubes were very effective in degrading the LDPE films under visible light, indicating that plastic bags containing such material can be prepared that would be degradable in the open environment.