The effect of extensive mechanical recycling on the properties of low density polyethylene

Low density polyethylene (LDPE) was exposed to one hundred (100) consecutive extensive extrusion cycles to simulate mechanical recycling. Collected samples were characterized by means of small amplitude oscillatory measurements to investigate rheological properties, by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) to measure molecular weight, and with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to study thermal properties. Finally, solid time-dependent mechanical properties were characterized by measuring creep compliance. The results show that simulated recycling did not significantly change the melting and crystallization temperatures of LDPE. However, results from rheological measurement, crystallinity, creep measurements and GPC suggest that thermal degradation and gelation of LDPE occur after extensive extrusion which leads to simultaneous chain scission and crosslinking of the polymer chains. It can be concluded that processability, measured by rheological parameters at high frequency and durability of LDPE measured by creep compliance, are only affected after the 40th extrusion cycle. These observations correspond to the molecular changes of LDPE measured through GPC, MFI and crystallinity calculations obtained from DSC measurements.