PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF POLYBLEND PS WITH PVL OBTAINED USING BIS(DIBENZOYLMETHANE)ZIRCONIUM(IV) CATALYST

Abstract

Polystyrene (PS) is a type of plastic that is often used in daily life as plastic bags, food containers, and medical equipment. However, PS has a drawback in that is difficult to degrade. To overcome this problem, PS plastic is modified by mixing it with biodegradable synthetic polymers such as poly(δ-valerolactone) (PVL) to produce polyblends. The PVL used in this work was produced through the polymerization of δ-VL with involve a bis(dibenzoylmethane) zirconium(IV) (bis(dibzm)2Zr) catalyst. This research was conducted to prepare a PS/PVL polyblend with various compositions to produce a more compatible polyblend. The mixing is done by using a blending technique with a PS/PVL ratio of 10/0, 10/1, 10/2, 10/3, and 10/4, respectively. The best mixing results were obtained at the PS/PVL 10/2 ratio, where the tensile strength data was 5.97 MPa and the elongation was 2.51%. In addition, the results of the Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR) test indicate that there has been a secondary interaction between PS and PVL. Last, the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) test showed that when PS was mixed with PVL, its thermal properties decreased.