The increase of plastic waste in the marine environment raises several ecological, human, and biological problems. In this work, an accelerated artificial aging study was conducted in seawater after immersing samples of high-density polyethylene bottles for several aging times and at three different temperatures. The deterioration of the mechanical properties of High density polyethylene (HDPE) under different aging conditions was investigated using tensile and compression tests. The absorption of seawater by the samples was analyzed using a gravimetric method and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR). Further surface analysis of the samples during accelerated aging was performed using a scanning electron microscope. The results show that HDPE loses its ductility and rigidity. FTIR analysis confirms the increase in crystallinity during aging.

The increase of plastic waste in the marine environment has several ecological, human and marine biota problems. In this paper, an accelerated artificial ageing study in seawater was performed, after immersion of samples extracted from high density polyethylene bottles for several ageing times and under two different temperatures. The degradation of the mechanical properties of HDPE at different ageing conditions was studied using static tensile and compression tests. The absorption of seawater by the samples is analyzed by a gravimetric procedure, and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR). A further surface analysis of the samples during accelerated ageing was shown by scanning electron microscope SEM. The results obtained show that the high density polyethylene loses its ductility and changes from ductile to brittle failure. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry (FTIR) analysis shows an increase in crystallinity over the ageing period.

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Considering the wide use of high impact polystyrene in different fields, it is important to know its behavior in different environmental conditions. This work is interested in the characterization of the behavior of high impact polystyrene (HIPS) under tensile and bending stress.