Zirconium-Catalyzed C–H Alumination of Polyolefins, Paraffins, and Methane
Not Available
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
Engineering topics
Kocen, Andrew L.
Publications and source records attributed to Kocen, Andrew L..
Catalytic Chemical Recycling of Post-Consumer Polyethylene
Among commercial plastics, polyolefins are the most widely produced worldwide but have limited recyclability. Here, we report a chemical recycling route for the conversion of post-consumer high-density polyethylene (HDPE) into telechelic macromonomers suitable for circular reprocessing. Unsaturation was introduced into HDPE by catalytic dehydrogenation using an Ir-POCOP catalyst without an alkene acceptor. Cross-metathesis with 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate followed by hydrogenation transformed the partially unsaturated HDPE into telechelic macromonomers. The direct repolymerization of the macromonomers gave a brittle material due to the low overall weight-average molecular weight. Aminolysis of telechelic macromonomers with a small amount of diethanolamine increased the overall functionality. The resulting macromonomers were repolymerized through transesterification to generate a polymer with comparable mechanical properties to the starting post-consumer HDPE waste. Finally, depolymerization of the repolymerized material catalyzed by an organic base regenerated the telechelic macromonomers, thereby allowing waste polyethylene materials to enter a chemical recycling pathway.
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Chemical Upcycling of Polyethylene to Value-Added α,ω-Divinyl-Functionalized Oligomers
Not provided.
Chemistry↗