Synthesis of Carbon Nanoparticles from Polystyrene Wastes

There are various methods for the synthesis of carbon nanoparticles. Each laboratory uses one of them depending on its abilities and available tools. Adding nanoparticles, especially Nano carbons, to some materials changes their behaviours. For example, adding carbon to iron matrix leads to an increase in its compressive strength and adding carbon to plastics results in a remarkable increase in their thermal resistance. Therefore, synthesis of such compounds from the wastes is a good achievement. The purpose of this study is the synthesis of carbon nanoparticles from the wastes (disposable containers made of polystyrene) using the designed reactor and heat system. In the used reactor, as high pressures and temperatures above 700 ºC are used along with appropriate catalysts for different periods, all of the materials lose their macro structures and fragment into Nano-size particles. Each of the mentioned conditions is optimized with each other and type of initial materials. The effects of different parameters such as time, catalyst quantities, and the ration of polystyrene to catalyst available on the obtained particle sizes have been investigated. Time and catalyst ratio are the fundamental parameters in this method. The carbon nanoparticles that we have extracted from disposable containers also helps the environment and reduces the recycling costs of polystyrene wastes.