Reclaiming Polycarbonate from Compact Discs and its Use in Synthesizing Hollow Micro Spheres by Electrospraying

This paper reports the use of polycarbonate reclaimed from compact disks for synthesis of hollow microspheres by electrospraying from solution. Compact disks are predominantly made up of polycarbonate and it is possible to reclaim the polycarbonate easily by using mechanical methods. The reclaimed polycarbonate has been subjected to GPC analysis and compared to virgin polycarbonate to ensure that no significant change in properties of virgin and reclaimed polycarbonate exist. Microspheres were synthesized by electrospraying the polycarbonate solution of varying concentrations which was then collected on a water bed. Evaporation of the tetrahydrofuran solvent from the polymer solution result in the formation of pores on the surface of the microspheres. Rotational rheometry has been used to study the effect of viscosity of the polycarbonate solution on the electrospraying process. Also, the pendant drop method has been used to analyze the surface tension of the polymer solution, and to correlate it to the effect that surface tension has on the polymer solution. Using this process, microspheres on 10μm diameter with pores of around 1μm have been synthesized.