Abstract
Polystyrene is extensively used in building and construction industry, packaging and transportation of fragile equipment due its low density, high melting point, low thermal conductivity, low water absorption, etc. Polystyrene after usage is usually discarded thereby causing environmental problems. The post-usage of polystyrene has, therefore, been a subject of intense research in recent times. The aim of this work is to produce adhesive from polystyrene wastes. Polystyrene waste (PS) was collected, processed and dissolved in tackifyer and formulated with diphnyle amine and diethylene glycol dibenzoate additives to produce adhesive using 3 levels variables factors and 4 levels testing factors of design expert optimization software. The produced adhesive was further characterized for viscosity, pH, percentages solid and moisture contents for their response surfaces. The results showed that the best fit viscosity for each run was Run 1B> Run 5A > Run 5D> Run 5B>Run 4D based on the regression analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The pH values obtained ranged from 4.0 to 6.3; percentage moisture content was in the order of Run 1B < 5A<4D<4B and percentage solid content was in the order of Run 1B<5A<4D. The best fitted adhesive was run 1B with 5.93 % moisture content; 5A has 7.57 % moisture content and 4D with 8.76% moisture content. The percentage solid content; Run 1B has 67.19 %, 5A has 68.16 % and 4D has 75.50 %. The produced adhesives were found within the standard range of adhesives used in production of particleboard.
Highlights
Waste is any unavoidable material resulting from domestic, industrial or social operations that are not having any economic value and the end results is disposal
The values obtained are: Runs 1A, 5267 cPs; 1B, 3006 cPs; 1C, 5285 cPs; 1D, 5228 cPs & 1E, 5351 cPs. These values were found within the range of viscosity data for urea formaldehyde adhesive used in particle board [25, 26, 27]
Adhesive was formulated from polystyrene and tackifyer, using additives as stabilizer
Summary
Waste is any unavoidable material resulting from domestic, industrial or social operations that are not having any economic value and the end results is disposal. The prevailing situation of indiscriminate disposal of non-biodegradable waste materials is a great concern for sustainable ecosystem and clean environment. These wastes could contain a lot of valuable resources in the form of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, methane and other chemicals which might be useful [1]. Polystyrene which is known as Styrofoam is a synthetic aromatic polymer made from monomer of styrene, which can either be solid or foamed. It is traditionally produced by alkylation of benzene reacting with ethylene to produce ethylbenzyene. The Chemical formula is and has molecular weight of 104.15 g [4]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
