Environmental and morphological behavior of polystyrene films containing Schiff base moiety

Herein novel Schiff base having triazole segment (3) has been synthesized and characterized. Different techniques have been used to evaluate the photo stability of the polystyrene polymeric films. It was demonstrated that mixing the polystyrene with synthesized Schiff base reduce the formation of carbonyl groups during the irradiation compare to the blank polystyrene film. The determination of weight loss was also studied and it was proved that using the Schiff base with the polymer films reduce the weight loss versus the irradiation time compare to the blank film. The energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) technique shows that the major component of both Schiff base/polystyrene and blank polystyrene films is the carbon atom. However, it shows the appearance of new band for Schiff base/polystyrene film, related to the oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur. The Schiff base/polystyrene film demonstrates the formation of terrestrial cracks-like and this might be due to the existence of the Schiff base, by using the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) technique. This work includes important results to reduce the threatening of plastic waste for marine ecosystem through using new photo stabilizers, which leads to decreasing of plastic consuming around the world.