Degradation of Styrenic Plastics During Recycling: Impact of Reprocessing Photodegraded Material on Aspect and Mechanical Properties

The major technical limitations in polymer recycling are their incompatibility between each other and their ageing. In this study, impact reinforced styrenics, namely HIPS and ABS, were evaluated in the scope of their alterations through recycling photooxidized material. In this purpose, plates were photodegraded in both natural and accelerated conditions. FTIR-ATR was used to monitor their ageing. After the desired ageing durations, plates were ground, extruded and injected into ISO1 dumbbell tensile test specimens to simulate recycling of degraded polymers. Strong interactions were observed between photooxidation and polymer processing through photometry measures, associated color changes, tensile and impact properties. It was noticed that unaged materials displayed only moderated alterations through recycling. Because of their close chemistry, HIPS and ABS share several modifications but ABS was less altered and mainly impact properties were affected. HIPS and ABS difference of sensibilities could be rooted in PB phases different morphologies and grafting between the two materials.