Abstract Recycling of thermoplastic polymers is an important element of sustainable circular economy practices. The quality of mechanically recycled polymers is a concern. A method is presented to predict the structure and processability of recycled blends of polymers based on processability knowledge of their virgin precursor components. Blending rules at molecular weight distribution level are well established and form the foundation of the new method. Two essential fundamental building blocks are combined with this foundation. First, component and blend structure are related to viscosity via tube theories. Second, viscosity is related to melt flow index via a continuum mechanics approach. Emulator equations are built based on virtual experimental designs for fast forward and reverse calculations directly relating structure to viscosity and processability. The new combined method is compared with empirical blend rules, and shows important similarities and also clear quantitative differences. Finally, the new method is applied to practical recycling quality challenges.

中文翻译：

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线性聚合物机械回收混合物的可加工性预测

摘要 热塑性聚合物的回收是可持续循环经济实践的重要组成部分。机械回收聚合物的质量是一个问题。提出了一种基于聚合物原始前体组分的可加工性知识来预测聚合物回收共混物的结构和可加工性的方法。分子量分布水平的混合规则已经确立，并构成了新方法的基础。两个重要的基本构建块与此基础相结合。首先，组分和共混结构通过管理论与粘度相关。其次，粘度通过连续介质力学方法与熔体流动指数相关。仿真器方程基于虚拟实验设计构建，用于快速正向和反向计算，直接将结构与粘度和可加工性相关联。新的组合方法与经验混合规则进行比较，显示出重要的相似之处，也显示出明显的数量差异。最后，将新方法应用于实际回收质量挑战。