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Improvement of hybrid jig separation efficiency using wetting agents for the recycling of mixed-plastic wastes

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Abstract

We have developed the hybrid jig which combines the principles of jig separation and flotation. However, the selectivity of bubble attachment in water was poor because most plastics have inherently hydrophobic surfaces; so, development of surface modification techniques for plastic particles would expand the application of hybrid jig to the material recycling of plastics. In this study, hybrid jig separation of polypropylene using glass fiber and high impact polystyrene having similar specific gravities and surface wettability were investigated with three wetting agents [Di-2-ethylhexyl sodium sulfosuccinate (Aerosol OT, AOT), sodium lignin sulfonate, and tannic acid]. The results showed that the probability of bubble attachment was influenced by wetting agents because of their strong effects on the surface tension of solution and surface wettability of plastics. The results also suggest that wetting agents could be utilized to control the selectivity of bubble attachment and improve the hybrid jig separation efficiency. In addition, since the hybrid jig separation of polyvinyl chloride and polyamide (nylon-66) using AOT was imperfect, a two-step approach, composed of a pre-wetting step (first step) in a solution containing the wetting agent (AOT) and hybrid jig separation in water (second step), is proposed.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the JSPS KAKENHI 23560990 for financial support and wish to thank Prof. Toshiaki Yoshioka, Prof. Shinichi Sakai, and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable inputs to this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Sustainable Resources Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Kita 13, Nishi 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-8628, Japan

    Mayumi Ito, Carlito Baltazar Tabelin, Naoki Hiroyoshi & Masami Tsunekawa

  2. Division of Sustainable Resources Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Kita 13, Nishi 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-8628, Japan

    Megumi Takeuchi, Ayumu Saito, Nana Murase & Theerayut Phengsaart

  3. School of Minerals and Energy Resources Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia

    Carlito Baltazar Tabelin

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  1. Mayumi Ito
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Correspondence to Mayumi Ito.

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Ito, M., Takeuchi, M., Saito, A. et al. Improvement of hybrid jig separation efficiency using wetting agents for the recycling of mixed-plastic wastes. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 21, 1376–1383 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-019-00890-w

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