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The treatment or recovery of waste ink constitutes a significant process for the printing and packaging industries, particularly in the flexographic printing of packaging materials. This poses a substantial challenge in the field of waste management science. The application of waste ink recovery, ensuring a safe environment and human health, along with the recovery and sustainability of Earth's resources, has garnered significant global attention. The present research is solely devoted to creating innovative trends without technological barriers for synthesizing a tri-copolymer to be applied as an effective sorption system for waste ink. The Polyethyleneimine-Poly Glycidyl methacrylatepolyethylene glycol diacrylate tri-polymer (PEI-PGMA-PEGDA tri-polymer) was synthesized and thoroughly investigated using FTIR, TGA, and DSC to confirm its chemical structure, thermal stability, and the shift in melting point affected by radiation dose, respectively. SEM analysis showed significant morphological differences in PEI-PGMA-PEGDA tri-polymer samples before and after treatment with flexographic printing ink waste, offering effective strategies for adsorbing waste printing inks from organic solvents. These findings contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the investigated materials and their potential applications. Additionally, the kinetic study of the sorption efficiency of flexographic ink by two sets of tri-copolymers with doses of 20 and 40 kGy indicated that 40 kGy has a more efficient capacity. The highest sorption capacity, approximately 97.6%, was observed for a sample of GMA 15% irradiated by 40 kGy with a sorption amount of 2.5 g L-1. This suggests that the current new treatment strategy can be categorized as highly effective waste ink management and should be advocated for in such domains to ensure a safe environment and preserve Earth's resources. The treatment of printing ink for packaging materials is a crucial step towards achieving green printing technology, which must be supported and advanced through research and industrial application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an attempt to produce bio-composites that possess good physico-mechanical properties, polyamidoamine (PAMAM) was synthesized and characterized as a multi-nitrogen terminal biocompatible and nontoxic polymeric species. It was mixed at various ratios of 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0% with polypropylene (PP) via Brabender-like apparatus. The prepared bio-composites were exposed to 20 kGy of gamma-irradiation to investigate the influence of ionizing radiation on the fabricated specimens. Parameters of mechanical for instance tensile strength (TS), modulus of elasticity (EM), elongation at break (%), and hardness (Shore D), of bio-composites, were considered. Moreover, the stress-strain curves of the fabricated samples were investigated. Furthermore, FTIR and thermal analysis including TGA and DSC have been investigated. The crystallinity % of all investigated samples was calculated on the basis of DSC measurements. Overall migration of prepared samples has been performed as an applicable study of food packaging. FTIR results revealed the disappearance of the absorption peak at 1730 cm−l of the carbonyl group of polyamidoamine after the formation of PP/PAMAM bio-composites, indicating a successful combination of the PP matrix with polyamidoamine. The incorporation of PAMAM resulted in a steady improvement of the melting temperature (Tm) of the native PP. The thermal stability of PP/PAMAM composition increases with increasing PAMAM and after being exposed to 20 kGy irradiation. Mechanical data revealed that TS of PP increased with PAMAM content up to 3.0%. The development in TS increased from 20 MPa of native PP to 45 MPa of PP/2% PAMAM bio-composites suggesting the superior interaction between the synthetic PAMAM and PP texture. Furthermore, the prepared bio-composite films displayed highly acceptable migration limits. Graphical Abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A soft‐segment homopolymer of the monomer butyl acrylate was synthesized by miniemulsion polymerization to study the unique properties of poly(n‐butyl acrylate) [P(nBuA)] as flexible coating. The nanostructure and linear properties of P(nBuA) synthesized using radiation and radical polymerization techniques were investigated. The molar mass and particle size of the prepared P(nBuA) polymers were characterized using size‐exclusion chromatography and a particle‐size analyzer, respectively. Photo‐initiation of P(nBuA) was induced by 2,2‐dimethoxy‐2‐phenylacetophenone in the presence of the crosslinkers polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA), bisphenol A ethoxylated diacrylate (BPAEDA), or trimethylpropane triacrylate (TMPTA), followed by crosslinking by ionizing radiation. The dynamic mechanical analysis parameters—tangent delta, storage modulus, and loss modulus—were determined for the three prepared crosslinked polymers of P(nBuA) and showed that P(nBuA‐BPAEDA), P(nBuA‐PEGDA), and P(nBuA‐TMPTA) are strong and flexible materials. Thermal gravimetric analysis was used to study the thermal behavior of the prepared elastic P(nBuA) polymers. Thermal gravimetric data revealed that the crosslinkers improved the thermal stability of P(nBuA). The favorable properties of the synthesized polymers indicate their potential to be used as flexible nanocoatings for packaging materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glucoamylase (GA) had been covalently immobilized on polypropylene grafted poly-acrylamide (PP-g-P(AAm)) and polypropylene grafted poly-acrylic acid (PP-g-P(AAc)) fibers by the use of carbodiimide (CDI) as a coupling agent. The polymeric support for enzyme immobilization was prepared using radiation that induced graft copolymerization of acrylamide (AAm) and acrylic acid (AAc) monomers, individually, onto polypropylene fibers followed by chemical treatments. Effects of pH and temperature on the relative activity, as well as storage stability and reusability of the immobilized enzyme, were studied. The kinetic effect of immobilization was also studied to find that, the Km values for glucoamylase immobilized on PP-g-P(AAc) and PP-g-P(AAm) fibers are 3.4 and 5.88, respectively, i.e., higher than that for free glucoamylase of Km 1.6. An enhancement in the thermal stability of the glucoamylase is observed upon immobilization. The optimum temperature for the immobilized enzyme on both PP-g-P(AAc) and PP-g-P(AAm) was found to be shifted 5°C higher than that of the free enzyme at 55°C. Investigation of reusability of the immobilized enzyme showed that after 10 cycles the immobilized enzyme retained 60% and 45% of its original activity for PP-g-P(AAc) and PP-g-P(AAm) carriers, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]