Photodegradation Of Polypropylene Using Cao Nanoparticles As A Catalyst

The photodegradation of polypropylene has been studied using calcium oxide nanoparticles as a catalyst under halogen lamp. Morphology as well as thermal properties of the sample were investigated by SEM and DSC. SEM results show that the polypropylene is prone to cracking into small fragments indicating a rise in crystallinity with different dosages of catalyst. The DSC results confirmed the remarkable influence of photodegradation on degree of crystallinity (X-C %), fusion enthalpy (Delta H Jg(-1)) and melting temperature (T-m) of polypropylene. FTIR spectrometry showed the presence of carbonyl groups, which were obtained after photodegradation. Results show that polypropylene was successfully degraded by CaO nanoparticles generating different functional group during chain scission.