Subcritical CO2-H2O Hydrolysis of Polyethylene Terephthalate as a Sustainable Chemical Recycling Platform

Osei, Dacosta; Gurrala, Lakshmiprasad; Sheldon, Aria; Mayuga, Jackson; Lincoln, Clarissa; Rorrer, Nicholas A.; Morais, Ana Rita C.

doi:10.1039/D3GC04576E

Title: Subcritical CO2-H2O Hydrolysis of Polyethylene Terephthalate as a Sustainable Chemical Recycling Platform

Journal Article · Tue Feb 13 00:00:00 EST 2024 · Green Chemistry

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1039/D3GC04576E· OSTI ID:2325039

Osei, Dacosta; Gurrala, Lakshmiprasad; Sheldon, Aria; Mayuga, Jackson; Lincoln, Clarissa;

; Morais, Ana Rita C.

The development of an efficient and environmentally sustainable chemical hydrolysis process for recycling waste plastics, based on green chemistry principles, is a key challenge. In this work, we investigated the role of subcritical CO2 on the hydrolysis of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) into terephthalic acid (TPA) at 180-200 degrees C for 10-100 min. The addition of CO2 into the reaction mixture led to the in situ formation of carbonic acid that helps to catalyze PET hydrolysis relative to hot compressed H2O (i.e. N2-H2O). The highest TPA yield of 85.0 +/- 1.3% was obtained at 200 degrees C, PET loading of 2.5 g PET in 20 mL H2O for 100 min, and 208 psi of initial CO2 pressure. In addition, the subcritical CO2-H2O system demonstrated high selectivity toward hydrolyzing PET in a mixture with polyethylene (PE) at 200 degrees C for 100 min, thus providing "molecular sorting" capabilities to the recycling process. The robustness of the process was also demonstrated by the ability to hydrolyze both colored Canada Dry and transparent Pure Life waste PET bottles into high yields of TPA (>86%) at 200 degrees C. In addition, subcritical CO2-H2O hydrolysis of colored PET bottles resulted in a white TPA product similar to that generated from transparent PET bottles. Overall, this work shows that, under optimized reaction conditions, subcritical CO2 can provide acid tunability to the reaction medium to favor waste PET hydrolysis for subsequent recycling.

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Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Advanced Manufacturing and Materials Technologies Office (AMMTO); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Transportation Office. Bioenergy Technologies Office; USDOE BOTTLE Consortium

DOE Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 2325039

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-2800-89212; MainId:89991; UUID:671d37dc-ffc5-459b-b71d-e4272132949e; MainAdminId:72123

Journal Information:: Green Chemistry, Journal Name: Green Chemistry

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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