Developing new recycling approaches is needed to avert continued plastic waste pollution in the environment. Poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) is the least recycled commodity polymer because both the rapid release of hydrochloric acid (HCl) and presence of plasticizers hinder its suitability in established recycling approaches. These recycling barriers are turned into advantages in this work, in which HCl is intentionally released from PVC and directly used as feedstock to chlorinate arenes in a mild, air- and moisture-tolerant, single-pot paired-electrolysis reaction. Electrochemical analysis indicates that a common PVC plasticizer functions as a redox mediator to improve overall yields. This methodology can chlorinate a broad scope of arenes and heteroarenes and consumer plasticized PVC items can be used as the chlorine source. These findings demonstrate a direct use for PVC waste and inspire development of multi-purpose additives to aid in the end-of-life treatment of plastic waste.

Open-loop recycling of plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) via tandem electrolysis

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.