12TH B

2012-2013

CHEMISTRY INVESTIGATORY PROJECT

ECOFRIENDLY METHODS TO DEGRADE PLASTICS

ABHIJEET BHATTACHARYA ABHISHEK PANDEY 12TH B

ALL INDIA SENIOR SECONDARY BOARD EXAMINATION

CERTIFICATE
NAME: 1)ABHIJEET BHATTACHARYA ROLL NO: 2) ABHISHEK PANDEY ROLL NO:
THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT THE INVESTIGATORY PROGECT HAS BEEN PERFORMED BY THE STUDENT SATISFACTORILY.

DATE:

-------------------(SIGN OF EXAMINER)

---------------------(SIGN OF CHEMISTRY TEACHER)

------------------SCHOOL STAMP (SIGN OF PRINCIPAL)

KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA AMBARNATH

CHEMISTRY INVESTIGATORY PROJECT

ECOFRIENDLY METHODS TO DEGRADE PLASTICS..

BY - Abhishek-Pandey Abhijeet-Bhattacharya Xii-B

:: Latest findings..

Plastic takes thousands of years to decompose but 16-year-old science fair contestant Daniel Burd made it happen in just three months. The Waterloo, Ontario high school junior figured that something must make plastic degrade, even if it does take millennia, and that something was probably bacteria. (Hey, at between one-half and 90 percent of Earths biomass, bacterias a pretty safe bet for any biological mystery.) The Record reports that Burd mixed landfill dirt with yeast and tap water, then added ground plastic and let it stew. The plastic indeed decomposed more quickly than it would in nature; after experimenting with different temperatures and configurations, Burd isolated the microbial munchers. One came from the bacterial genus Pseudomonas, and the other from the genus Sphingomonas. Burd says this should be easy on an industrial scale: all thats needed is a fermenter, a growth medium and plastic, and the bacteria themselves provide most of the energy by producing heat as they eat. The only waste is water and a bit of carbon dioxide.

::Polymer degradation
Polymer degradation is a change in the propertiestensile strength, color, shape, etc.of a polymer or polymer-based product under the influence of one or more environmental factors such as heat, light or chemicals such as acids, alkalis and some salts. These changes are usually undesirable, such as cracking and chemical disintegration of products or, more rarely, desirable, as in biodegradation, or deliberately lowering the molecular weight of a polymer for recycling. The changes in properties are often termed "aging". In a finished product such a change is to be prevented or delayed. Degradation can be useful for recycling/reusing the polymer waste to prevent or reduce environmental pollution. Degradation can also be induced deliberately to assist structure determination.

Polymeric molecules are very large (on the molecular scale), and their unique and useful properties are mainly a result of their size. Any loss in chain length lowers tensile strength and is a primary cause of premature cracking.

::Thermal degradation

Chain-growth polymers like poly(methyl methacrylate) can be degraded by thermolysis at high temperatures to give monomers, oils, gases and water. The degradation takes place by: Thermolysis type Pyrolysis Added material Temperature Pressure Final product

Around 500C Dihydrogen Around 450C

Reduced pressure Around 200 bars Under pressure Carbon monoxide, Carbon dioxide and hydrogen

Hydrogenation

Gasification

Dioxygen and/or water

:: GOING THROUGH CHEMICAL

WAYS

::Solvolysis
Step-growth polymers like polyesters, polyamides and polycarbonates can be degraded by solvolysis and mainly hydrolysis to give lower molecular weight molecules. The hydrolysis takes place in the presence of water containing an acid or a base as catalyst. Polyamide is sensitive to degradation by acids and polyamide mouldings will crack when attacked by strong acids. For example, the fracture surface of a fuel connector showed the progressive growth of the crack from acid attack (Ch) to the final cusp (C) of polymer. The problem is known as stress corrosion cracking, and in this case was caused by hydrolysis of the polymer. It was the reverse reaction of the synthesis of the polymer:-

::Ozonolysis

Cracks can be formed in many different elastomers by ozone attack. Tiny traces of the gas in the air will attack double bonds in rubber chains, with Natural rubber, polybutadiene, Styrene-butadiene rubber and NBR being most sensitive to degradation. Ozone cracks form in products under tension, but the critical strain is very small. The cracks are always oriented at right angles to the strain axis, so will form around the circumference in a rubber tube bent over. Such cracks are dangerous when they occur in fuel pipes because the cracks will grow from the outside exposed surfaces into the bore of the pipe, and fuel leakage and fire may follow.

::Oxidation

IR spectrum showing carbonyl absorption due to oxidative degradation of polypropylenecrutchmoulding.Polymers are susceptible to attack by atmospheric oxygen, especially at elevated temperatures encountered during processing to shape. Many process methods such as extrusion and injection moulding involve pumping molten polymer into tools, and the high temperatures needed for melting may result in oxidation unless precautions are taken. For example, a forearm crutch suddenly snapped and the user was severely injured in the resulting fall. The crutch had fractured across a polypropylene insert within the aluminium tube of the device, and infra-red spectroscopy of the material showed that it had oxidised, possible as a result of poor moulding. Polypropylene has a relatively simple spectrum with few peaks at the carbonyl position (like polyethylene). Oxidation tends to start at tertiary carbon atoms because the free radicals formed here are more stable and longer lasting, making them more susceptible to attack by oxygen. The carbonyl group can be further oxidized to break the chain, this weakens the material by lowering its molecular weight, and cracks start to grow in the regions affected.

::Galvanic action
Polymer degradation by galvanic action was first described in the technical literature in 1990.This was the discovery that "plastics can corrode", i.e. polymer degradation may occur through galvanic action similar to that of metals under certain conditions. Normally, when two dissimilar metals such as copper (Cu) and iron (Fe) are put into contact and then immersed in salt water, the iron will undergo corrosion, or rust. This is called a galvanic circuit where the copper is the noble metal and the iron is the active metal, i.e., the copper is the cathode or positive (+) electrode and the iron is the anode, or negative (-) electrode. A battery is formed. It follows that plastics are made stronger by impregnating them with thin carbon fibers only a few micrometers in diameter known as carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP). The carbon fibers act as a noble metal similar to gold (Au) or platinum (Pt). When put into contact with a more active metal, for example with aluminum (Al) in salt water the aluminum corrodes. However in early 1990, it was reported that imide-linked resins in CFRPcomposites degrade when bare composite is coupled with an active metal in salt water environments. This is because corrosion not only occurs at the aluminum anode, but also at the carbon fibercathode in the form of a very strong base with a pH of about 13. This strong base reacts with the polymer chain structure degrading the polymer.

::Chlorine-induced cracking

Another highly reactive gas is chlorine, which will attack susceptible polymers such as acetal resin and polybutylene pipework. There have been many examples of such pipes and acetal fittings failing in properties in the US as a result of chlorine-induced cracking. In essence, the gas attacks sensitive parts of the chain molecules (especially secondary, tertiary, or allylic carbon atoms), oxidizing the chains and ultimately causing chain cleavage. The root cause is traces of chlorine in the water supply, added for its anti-bacterial action, attack occurring even at parts per million traces of the dissolved gas. The chlorine attacks weak parts of a product, and in the case of an acetal resin junction in a water supply system, it is the thread roots that were attacked first, causing a brittle crack to grow. Discolouration on the fracture surface was caused by deposition of carbonates from the hard water supply, so the joint had been in a critical state for many months.

:: Biological degradation

::PHOTO-DEGRADATION:-

The only real way to break down plastic, when UV rays strike plastic, they break the bonds holding the long molecular chain together. Over time, this can turn a big piece of plastic into lots of little pieces. Of course, plastic buried in a landfill rarely sees the light of day. But in the ocean, which is where a lot of discarded grocery bags, soft drink bottles and six-pack rings end up, plastic is bathed in as much light as water. In 2009, researchers from Nihon University in Chiba, Japan, found that plastic in warm ocean water can degrade in as little as a year, but those small bits of plastic are toxic chemicals such as bisphenol A (BPA) and PS oligomer. These end up in the guts of animals or wash up on shorelines, where humans are most likely to come into direct contact with the toxins. One solution to this environmental disaster is biodegradable plastic. There are two types currently on the market -- plant-based hydro-biodegradable plastic and petroleum-based oxo-biodegradable plastic. In the former category, polylactic acid (PLA), a plastic made from corn, tops the list as the most talkedabout alternative. PLA decomposes into water and carbon dioxide in 47 to 90 days -- four times faster than a PET-based bag floating in the ocean. But conditions have to be just right to achieve these kinds of results. PLA breaks down most efficiently in commercial composting facilities at high temperatures.

:: Fungus that Eats Plastic

Researchers have found the first endophytic fungus that eats plastic, and can use it as its sole food source even in an oxygen-free environment. Pestalotiopsismicrospora presents a massive bioremediation opportunity for landfills, where buried and surface plastics can be degraded naturally. More likely, though, the enzyme responsible for degrading polyurethane (PUR) will be tweaked, patented and commercialized. There will be no mad escape into urban centers where the mold will eat all our plastics, like medical scientist Kit Pedler envisioned in his sci-fi classic, Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters. P. microspora is ubiquitous in rainforests around the world, signifying its substantial role in forest ecosystem health. It also produces taxol, a chemical used to treat breast and ovarian cancers, though the Himalayan yew is more commercially profitable for extracting it. The jungle fungus spits out an enzyme that diffuses to a significant distance from its body, expanding the potential range of cleanup. Though touted in the media as a mushroom, P. microspora is actually a mold belonging to the Ascomycota phylum. Mushrooms belong to Basidiomycota. As an endophyte, it lives symbiotically within plants, whereas mushrooms tend to be ectophytes that live on plants. The winning fungal isolates came from the guava tree (Psidiumguajava) and the custard apple tree (Annonamuricata).

:: CONCLUSION::: Steps towards a better future:

Though, we have surely advanced few steps towards eradication of plastics as an eco-problem. But as we know most of all the ways of degradation need ample amount of time. Surely production of plastics and their waste products is far ahead than its rate of degradation, so better is to adopt ways to minimize this rate of production of plastic waste so that we lay down guidelines for better future. Certain methods that we can adopt are:

Buy products with less Plastic packaging and tell store Personnel why you are doing so. Shoppers should use their own bags or recycled paper bags. Support recycling schemes and promote support for one in your local area. Fishermen throughout South Africa should not throw away waste line, net or plastic litter - this causes huge suffering and many deaths. Practice and promote proper disposal of plastics in your home and at the beach. Always remember that litter generates litter. Never dispose of plastics in the sewage system. At the beach dispose of plastics and other litter in the bins provided. If these facilities are inadequate, contact the local authority responsible and lodge a complaint. Take your litter back home with you if there are no receptacles on the beach. Pick up any plastic litter you may see on the beach or in rock pools in the vicinity in which you are sitting or walking. Encourage young children to do likewise. In the street never throw plastic or other litter out of your car or drop it on the pavement or in the gutter. Set an example to others and encourage them to help. Plastics are not themselves a problem. They are useful and popular materials which can be produced with relatively little damage to the environment. The problem is the excessive use of plastics in one-off applications together with careless disposal.

PREFACE THIS PROJECT IS BASED ON THE LABORATORY EXPERIMENT AT KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA AMBARNATH. THE AIM OF THIS PROJECT IS TO INCULCATE CURIOSITY, IMAGINATION, INSPIRATION AND A SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY TO SAVE THE EARTH.

ACKOWLEDGEMENT

WE ARE THANKFUL TO OUR CHEMISTRY MADAM, MRS. SHIPRA

GUPTA FOR HER CONSTANT GUIDANCE IN THE COMPLETION OF THIS PROJECT

WE ALSO ACKNOWLEDGE THE CO-OPERATION EXTENDED BY Mr. NARASPPA IN HELPING ME TO COMPLETE THE PROJECT IN TIME.

INDEX
LATEST FINDINGS POLYMER DREGRADATION THERMAL DEGRADATION CHEMICAL WAYS BIOLOGICAL DEGRADATION CONCLUSION