| Title: | Analysis of volatile compounds causing undesirable odors in a polypropylene - high-density polyethylene recycled plastic resin with solid-phase microextraction |
| Author(s): | Fuller J; White D; Yi H; Colley J; Vickery Z; Liu S; |
| Address: | "Department of Chemistry and Physics, Troy University, AL, 36082, USA. Department of Mathematics, Troy University, AL, 36082, USA. Department of Chemistry and Physics, Troy University, AL, 36082, USA; Center for Materials and Manufacturing Sciences, Troy University, AL 36082, USA. Electronic address: lius@troy.edu" |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.127589 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1879-1298 (Electronic) 0045-6535 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Although recycled plastics provide a low-cost and environmentally friendly alternative for many applications, their desirability is significantly limited by the presence of unpleasant odors from volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In this work, a headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method was optimized to analyze volatile compounds from an odorous recycled plastic resin which was roughly composed of 85-90% polypropylene (PP) and 15-10% high-density polyethylene (HDPE). A large variety of aliphatic hydrocarbons and 13 additive residues were detected. Statistical tools were employed to screen the VOCs and successfully identified three components, i.e., 2,4-dimethyl-heptane, 4-methyl-octane and octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D(4)), which were significantly related to the odor intensity of the recycled plastic resin (p-values < 0.05). 2,4-Dimethyl-heptane has a strong, pungent plastic smell, which is very similar to the odor of the recycled resin. It is identified as a major source of the odor. Past relevant research has not been able to establish a direct link between an odorous compound and the undesirable odor of recycled plastic until now. 4-Methyl-octane was highly corelated to 2,4-dimethyl-heptane and somewhat contributed to the odor. D(4) does not have an odor, but it may serve as an indicator of some odorous residues from personal care products" |
| Keywords: | "Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry/methods Odorants/*analysis Plastics/chemistry Polyethylene/chemistry Polypropylenes/chemistry Recycling Resins, Synthetic/*chemistry Solid Phase Microextraction/*methods Volatile Organic Compounds/*analysis Gc-ms Odor;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineFuller, Jon White, David Yi, Huijun Colley, Jason Vickery, Zane Liu, Shaoyang eng England 2020/07/19 Chemosphere. 2020 Dec; 260:127589. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.127589. Epub 2020 Jul 9" |
