Surface hydrophilization of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene by the mild heat treatment for its selective separation to recycling

Abstract

Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) is one of hazardous halogenic plastics which containing brominated flame-retardants (BFRs) is considered as toxic wastes due to releasing hydrogen bromide and brominated dioxins through incineration or disposal activities. In present, recycling is aimed as a sustainable plastic waste management of ABS containing BFRs in ways that minimize the potential impact on human health and environment. This study was conducted to facilitate the separation of ABS plastics from heavy plastic mixture by froth flotation after surface rearrangement of ABS with mild heat treatment for its recycling. Hydrophilic moieties would be more likely to develop on the mild heat-treated ABS surfaces than on other plastics perhaps due to the difference of molecular mobility. This provides an excellent base for selective separation of ABS by froth flotation technique. As a result of froth flotation after mild heat treatment, about 97% of ABS with 100% purity was selectively separated from heavy plastics. The detailed mechanism for the selective separation of the ABS in the treatment (froth flotation after mild heat treatment) was discussed. Finally, this study facilities selective separation application effective and inexpensive method for of ABS from waste plastics.