The master´s thesis is focused on the characterization of degradation process of polypropylene and polypropylene with statistic copolymer into which manganese (II) stearate and cobalt (II) stearates were added at 0.05, 0.10 and 0.20 wt.% loadings. The aim of the thesis was to prepare the controlled life-time polypropylene. The degradation was studied at varying temperatures and prodegradant loadings. The prodegradants were synthetized and characterized using the FTIR and DSC techniques. Thermooxidation of the tested samples induced the changes in crystallinity, melting points and melt-flow indexes. Tensile strength and other mechanical properties were determined by means of the tensile test. The carbonyl index was determined using FTIR, the thermooxidation stability test was used to determine the activation energies of reactions. The changes in morphology of degraded samples were observed by SEM analysis.

The broad use of plastics has resulted in the increase in both production and consequent plastic pollution in the environment. Microplastics, defined as particles < 5 mm, is of special interest because of its wide existence in environment and potential hazards to our ecosystem. The degradation of microplastics can be studied using Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), where the optical absorption of different functional groups in a molecule can be detected and used for identification. By studying the change in intensity or peak area of certain functional groups (such as carbonyl, hydroxyl, or vinyl) in the spectrum, the degradation of microplastics can be quantified. In the past decades, carbonyl index (intensity or area change of carbonyl group in FTIR spectra), has been applied as a quantitative probe to monitor the extent of plastics degradation. However, the analysis of FTIR spectra requires expertise and comparison between different reports are often difficult due to non-standardized methods. Therefore, an automated method is urgently needed to ease the difficulty. This project has developed a program that automates and standardizes the analysis of the spectrum. The program calculates an index by using specified area under the band corresponding to a functional group peak and a reference peak. By comparing the indexes over time, degradation can be quantified. Additionally, poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) particles were subjected to a heterogeneous photo-Fenton process for 116 hours to obtain data of microplastics degradation. Both optical imaging and FTIR were used to characterize the degradation of PVC, on aspects of size reduction and band changes, respectively. The obtained FTIR data were fed into the developed program to calculate carbonyl index, and the result suggests a degradation of the PVC particles. This implies that the program can effectively reduce the time of analysis for researchers and evaluate and/or calculate the degradation of plastics.

Sous l’impact de contraintes photochimiques, thermiques, et hydrolytiques, les polymères subissent une dégradation souvent irréversible de leurs propriétés fonctionnelles. L’étude des mécanismes à l’origine de cette dégradation est indispensable pour la compréhension des phénomènes mis en jeu à toutes les échelles et pour la prévision de la durée de vie du matériau. L’enjeu de cette thèse est de comprendre les mécanismes à l’origine de la perte des propriétés d’aspect de matériaux en polypropylène teinté dans la masse soumis à un vieillissement photochimique, en suivant une approche multi-échelles et multi-critères. La composition des matériaux a été progressivement complexifiée au cours de l’étude, afin de pouvoir comprendre l’influence de l’ajout de pigments organiques, de stabilisants, et de talc, sur les modifications d’aspect des pièces sous irradiation. Grâce aux résultats obtenus et aux valeurs-seuils alors définies pour chaque critère de dégradation identifié, un modèle analytique d’étude du vieillissement de pièces en polypropylène teinté dans la masse a pu être proposé. / Under photochemical, thermal and hydrolytic stresses, polymers undergo an often-irreversible degradation of their functional properties. The study of the mechanisms governing the degradation of the properties is important, and understanding the involved phenomena at every scale is mandatory to predict the material lifetime. This PhD thesis aims at understanding the mechanisms underlying the loss of appearance properties of mass coloured polypropylene materials, using a multi-scale and multi-criteria approach. Formulations were progressively made more complex during this study, in order to understand the influence of organic pigments, stabilizers, and talc, on the appearance changes of the material under exposure. Thanks to the obtained results and to the threshold values determined for each identified criterion during degradation monitoring, an analytical model to study mass coloured polypropylene ageing could be proposed.

Une étude expérimentale a été effectuée sur diverses formules de trois familles d’enrobés bitumineux avec des taux de recyclage variables et la présence ou non de régénérant. La composition des mélanges et le procédé de fabrication ont été élaborés afin d’effectuer une étude comparative. L’enrobage produit des variations des paramètres physico-chimiques des liants telles que la consistance, la température de transition vitreuse, les fractions cristallisables, les taux d’aromatiques et d’asphaltènes ; ces variations sont limitées en présence de régénérant. Lorsque le taux d’AE augmente, la compactibilité et l’orniérage des mélanges diminuent et leur rigidité viscoélastique augmente, mais le régénérant limite ces variations. Globalement, les AE produisent une augmentation de la résistance à la fatigue des formules et un aplatissement des droites de Wöhler. Le régénérant améliore le paramètre de fatigue ɛ6 ; les performances en fatigue augmentent avec la TBA et l’indice colloïdal du liant ainsi qu’avec la diminution de la viscosité de l’enrobé. L’impact favorable d’un taux élevé d’AE et du régénérant sur le trafic admissible a été déterminé suite au dimensionnement d’une structure souple tri-couche. À basse température, la détérioration par les AE de la ductilité en traction et de la température de rupture par retrait empêché se trouvent limitées par le régénérant ; un compromis est cependant à trouver avec la résistance à la fatigue. Les formules régénérées mises en œuvre sur la couche de roulement d’une route départementale ont subi une moindre évolution après six ans de service que les mélanges non régénérés. / An experimental programme has been performed on three types of bituminous mixes with variable recycling rates and the possible addition of rejuvenator. The mix composition and the production process have been defined in order to perform a comparative analysis. The coating process modifies the physico-chemical parameters of the binders, like consistency, glassy transition temperature, cristallizable moiety, aromatics and asphaltenes rates; the above variations are limited by using the rejuvenator. As the RAP content increases, the compactibility and the rutting of the mixes decrease and the viscoelastic stiffness increases, but the rejuvenation reduces these variations. Globally, RAP increases the fatigue resistance of the mixes and flattens the Wöhler curve. Rejuvenation enhances ɛ6 fatigue parameter; fatigue performances increase with R&B temperature and colloidal index of the binder and as the viscous component of the mixes decreases. The positive impact of a high rate of RAP and of the rejuvenation on the allowable traffic has been evaluated from the structural design of a threelayered pavement. At low temperature, the deterioration of the tension ductility and of the stress restrained failure temperature produced by the RAP, is limited by the rejuvenation; a compromise with the fatigue resistance has to be found. The rejuvenated mixes laid as surface layers on a provincial road have experienced a smaller evolution that non rejuvenated mixes.