The New Jersey Institute of Technology's
Electronic Theses & Dissertations Project

Title:	Melt hydroperoxidation polypropylene with potential application in pollution control
Author:	Cherian, Zeena
View Online:	njit-etd1998-047 (xi, 63 pages ~ 3.1 MB pdf)
Department:	Committee for the Interdisciplinary Program in Materials Science and Engineering
Degree:	Master of Science
Program:	Materials Science and Engineering
Document Type:	Thesis
Advisory Committee:	Xanthos, Marino (Committee chair) Chin, Ken K. (Committee member) Shaw, Henry (Committee member)
Date:	1998-01
Keywords:	Nitric oxide--Absorption and adsorption. Pollution--Environmental aspects. Polypropylene.
Availability:	Unrestricted
Abstract:	The primary objective of this study is to introduce tertiary hydroperoxide functional groups into polypropylene (PP) melt by injecting air. This was done first by mixing additive free polypropylene powder with air in a batch mixer. The influence of air flow rate, temperature, mixing time and rotor RPM on the concentration of hydroperoxide groups were studied. Iodometric analysis and fourier transform infrared spectroscopic analysis were the techniques used to detect and quantify the concentration of hydroperoxide groups. In the second phase of the study, hydroperoxide groups were introduced in polypropylene through reactive processing in a single screw extruder. It was possible to incorporate hydroperoxide groups at concentration as high as 0.089 mole/kg of PP. The viscosity changes of the modified polypropylene corresponding to molecular weight reduction were studied using a capillary rheometer. Preliminary scrubbing experiments were carried out to study the reactivity of one hydroperoxidized polypropylene sample towards NO and further experiments are recommended to establish suitable testing protocol. It has been shown in the past that organic hydroperoxides react with NO to form nitrites and nitrates. It was also demonstrated that γ-ray irradiated PP in moist air produced hydroperoxides that could be made to react with NO. The ultimate objective of this research is to use hydroperoxidized polypropylene for selective NO removal for pollution control.