Transferring Polypropylene into Carbon Nanotubes via Combustion of PP/Zeolites (H-ZSM-5 or H-Beta)/Ni2O3

In a simple device, two kinds of zeolites were Successfully used as synergistic additive to promote formation of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) from polypropylene (PP) via combustion. More importantly, this kind of process may potentially act as a new approach for recycling plastic wastes, because it could effectively transfer polyolefin wastes into valuable carbon materials. Experimental results demonstrated that the higher quality of MWNTs can be obtained from the mixture (PP/H-Beta/Ni2O3) than that from the mixture (PP/H-ZSM-5/Ni2O3). At the same time, the yield of MWNTs from PP/H-ZSM-5/Ni2O3 system is much lower than that from PP/H-Beta/Ni2O3 under the same condition. The reason for the different effects of both types of zeolites on the morphology and the yield of the MWNTs was analyzed. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 112: 3423-3428, 2009