Abstract
Technical polymers are produced in large quantity (nine billion tons in total until 2017) - and only an estimated 10% of the plastic waste generated so far has been recycled. New technologies for the discrimination of polymers may contribute to more efficient and effective recycling. We combine Spark optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) to discriminate different polymers. Both techniques are used for element analysis in various industry branches. A laser pulse is applied to a polymer sample inducing faint plasma, followed by an electric spark discharge between two electrodes. The optical emission of plasma is analyzed (Laser Ablation-Spark Discharge-OES, LA-SDOES).
Different technical polymers (PA6, PC, PE-HD, PET, PMMA, POM, PP, PS, PTFE,
PVC, UHMWPE, etc.) are measured by LIBS and LA-SD-OES. Molecular emission band of C2 and atomic emission lines of O, N, and H are measured and the correlation of intensities is used for materials discrimination. LA-SD-OES outperforms LIBS, especially for polymers containing halogens. Various gas flows are introduced to minimize the influence of the surrounding atmosphere and to improve the distinguishability of the technical polymers.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | 73rd Annual Meeting of the Austrian Physical Society |
| Editors | Johannes Kepler Universität Linz |
| Pages | 159 |
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Volume | 73 |
| Publication status | Published - Sept 2024 |
Fields of science
- 210005 Nanophotonics
- 103016 Laser physics