Synthetic polymers have been widely used in our daily life; however, their accumulation as plastic waste and associated environmental pollution present a significant challenge to be solved. Chemical deconstruction of commodity plastics is an emerging chemical path to convert discarded plastics to fuels, refinery feedstocks, monomers, chemicals, and upcycled materials. Organocatalysts provide promising “green” routes for polymer deconstruction since the catalyzed depolymerization reactions yield highly pure small molecules that are adequate for subsequent polymerizations or other uses. However, most organocatalysts have been designed to depolymerize a specific type of polymer. Herein, we report a new organocatalyst and integrated process for depolymerization of mixed plastics to high-value chemicals. Our catalyst enabled glycolysis with more than 95% conversion to monomer within 2 hours using 1/10 of the catalyst and half of ethylene glycol compared to the conventional organocatalysts. Furthermore, this catalyst accomplished one pot, single batch selective glycolysis of diverse mixed plastic consumer products, which paves the way to increase commercial viability by eliminating costly mixed plastic sorting.

Single-batch, mixed plastic depolymerization by a highly efficient organocatalyst

Fall 2022 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch in mid-September.

ACS Fall 2022

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