Abstract
Chemical recycling, either upcycling or returning to monomers, is a promising option for deriving value from plastic waste. Herein, we report two novel methods of upcycling waste polyoxymethylene (POM) to generate dialkoxymethanes (DAMs) by alcoholysis and cyclic aminals by aminolysis. A range of products are reported, including dimethoxymethane (DMM) and diethoxymethane (DEM), both of which are used industrially. Mixed plastic depolymerizations containing POM, both as a contaminant in other systems and as the intended substrate with other plastics as contaminants, were also investigated. The selectivity of four depolymerization reactions with respect to POM is reported alongside the selectivity of POM alcoholysis with respect to common contaminants. Finally, two mixed samples of post-consumer plastic waste containing POM, BPA-PC, and PET were sequentially and selectively degraded.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | RSC Sustainability |
| Early online date | 2 Dec 2024 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 2 Dec 2024 |
Data Availability Statement
The data supporting this article have been included as part of the ESI.Acknowledgements
We thank Dr Carlo Di Iulio and Dr Hana Postulkova of Abbot Diabetes Care for useful discussions. The support of the Core Research Facilities at the University of Bath is also gratefully acknowledged, particularly Dr Tim Woodman.Funding
We thank Abbott Diabetes Care and the Institute of Sustainability and Climate Change at the University of Bath for funding (PhD studentship for MJC). We thank Dr Carlo Di Iulio and Dr Hana Postulkova of Abbot Diabetes Care for useful discussions. The support of the Core Research Facilities at the University of Bath is also gratefully acknowledged, particularly Dr Tim Woodman. JAS, MDJ and MGD acknowledge support from the EPSRC (UK Catalysis Hub EP/R027129/1).
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Abbott Diabetes Care | |
| University of Bath | |
| Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council | EP/R027129/1 |
| Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council |
