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

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.