Complete Recycling of Polyester Wastes with Dialkyl Carbonates
Abstract
Abstract Chemical and biological recycling of spent polyesters is of great significance for solving problems caused by their accumulation, but generally suffering from requirements for high temperature, specific catalysts or enzymes, and incomplete depolymerization in most cases. Here, we report a novel strategy for complete depolymerization of polyesters (e.g., poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET) with dialkyl carbonates (e.g., dimethyl carbonate, DMC) into monomers over halide salts (e.g., tetrabutylammonium chloride, [N 4444 ]Cl) under mild conditions. We demonstrate that PET can be completely degraded into dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) using DMC over [N 4444 ]Cl at temperatures of 80∼120 °C. Based on this reaction, we have achieved highly efficient and complete depolymerization of PET in various PET blend textiles into DMT while preserving the structural integrity of other components including natural and synthetic components. Mechanistic studies reveal the key role of methoxy anion derived from DMC in cleaving the acyl C─O bond of polyesters. Techno‐economic assessment for recycling of spent PET wastes demonstrates excellent economic profit.
Article Details
Authors (13)
Rongxiang Li
Wei Zeng
Department of Chemistry
Yanfei Zhao
Guoxuan Li
College of Chemical Engineering Qingdao University of Science and Technology Qingdao 266042 P.R. China
Jiaju Fu
Fengtao Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Chemistry for NBC Hazards Protection, College of Chemistry
Yusi Wang
Hui Zhang
The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University Shijiazhuang China
Minhao Tang
Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences CAS Laboratory of Colloid and Interface and Thermodynamics CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecular Sciences Center for Carbon Neutral Chemistry Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100190 P.R. China
Daolan Liu
Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences CAS Laboratory of Colloid and Interface and Thermodynamics CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecular Sciences Center for Carbon Neutral Chemistry Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100190 P.R. China
Runyao Zhao
Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences CAS Laboratory of Colloid and Interface and Thermodynamics CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecular Sciences Center for Carbon Neutral Chemistry Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100190 P.R. China
Buxing Han
Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , , ,
Zhimin Liu