Polystyrene, when degraded via photocatalysis, has been reported to produce compounds structurally-similar to biofuels. This study sought to observe the degradation of polystyrene through photolysis using a series of model compounds, including sec-butylbenzene and styrene oligomers, as polystyrene itself would be too large to analyze via GC-MS. Titanium dioxide, which has a band gap of 3.2eV, can oxidize organic materials when excited by ultraviolet light, and thus made for an effective photocatalyst in this study. The sec-butylbenzene and styrene oligomer compounds were mixed with titanium (IV) dioxide and exposed to UV light from a xenon lamp. After degradation was complete and confirmed via HPLC, the products were analyzed via GC-MS. Products with structures similar to those of biofuels are sought out to determine the potential use as a biofuel feedstock.

Photolysis of polystyrene

251st National Meeting (2016)

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