Thermal characterization of the oxo-degradation of polypropylene containing a pro-oxidant/pro-degradant additive

On the other hand, during incubation in soil medium, changes in the morphological and thermal properties of previously photo-oxidized PP samples with pro-oxidant/pro-degradant were detected that indirectly support a certain progress of oxidation, indicating that previous abiotic oxidation can promote further degradation of the polypropylene matrix by soil microorganisms. In general, both morphological and thermal properties exhibit a non-linear dependency with the incubation time in soil, supporting the idea that biodegradation is a complex process that occurs in different stages. Furthermore, the extent of the changes in these properties during soil incubation was found to be proportional to the pro-oxidant/pro-degradant load and the previous photo-oxidation level.