Catalytic Degradation of Polystyrene: Modeling of Molecular Weight Distribution

摘要

Two of the most abundant polymers in household waste streams, PS and PE, may be recycled by compatibilization through a Friedel-Crafts alkylation. This reaction produces a graft copolymer PE-g-PS that improves the properties of the blend, but simultaneously degrades PS chains. Since the copolymer efficiency as a compati-bilizer depends both on the molecular weight and MWD of its two blocks, the operating conditions for the copolymer synthesis must be carefully tuned. To aid in this task, we present a preliminary mathematical model that focuses on the effect of the catalyst and cocatalyst of the Friedel-Crafts alkylation on the MWD of the PS chains. The model's predictions are shown to agree with experimental data.