Selection of Conditions in PVB Polymer Dissolution Process for Laminated Glass Recycling Applications

Polyvinyl(butyral) (PVB) post-production waste collected from the windshields of end-of-life vehicles and post-consumer building laminated glass are valuable polymeric materials that can be reused. Every year, large amounts of PVB waste are still being buried in landfills owing to a lack of appropriate recycling techniques. Before reuse, PVB should be thoroughly cleaned of solid contaminants such as glass dust, fused heating wires, and other waste polymers, metals, and ceramics. This can be done by polymer dissolution and filtration. In this study, we propose the purification of PVB from contamination by dissolving the post-consumer polymeric materials into single and binary organic solvents. As part of the experimental work, measurements and optimization of the dissolution time of PVB were performed. PVB dissolves faster when a binary solvent (2-propanol + ethyl acetate) than pure 2-propanol is used. From the point of view of the practical application of PVB solutions, measurements of density and dynamic viscosity as a function of PVB concentration and temperature were performed. The PVB solutions obtained in this work can be widely used as glues for glass, ceramics, metal, impregnating, and insulating materials or as paint additives that are entirely transparent for visible light and to block UV rays.