Chemical recycling to monomers is one of the key strategies in tackling the issues deriving from persistent plastic pollution in the environment, and poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is among the most used polymers in modern society. In this context, we herein describe the glycolysis of PET to bis-hydroxyethyl terephthalate (BHET), promoted by basic cholinium salts differing for the anions, also comprising amino acid anions. We investigated the optimal reaction conditions, finding that the best-performing catalyst is [Ch][Gly], in the presence of which a conversion of 85% and a yield of 51% are achieved at 150 °C after 6 h, from PET deriving from a clear water bottle. We used our protocol to carry out the glycolysis of PET deriving from different postconsumer waste, like opaque and colored bottles and food packages, finding that the performance is better in the former compared with the latter starting materials.

Marullo S., Rizzo C., Dintcheva N.T., D'anna F. (2021). Amino acid-based cholinium ionic liquids as sustainable catalysts for pet depolymerization. ACS SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY & ENGINEERING, 9(45), 15157-15165 [10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c04060].

Amino acid-based cholinium ionic liquids as sustainable catalysts for pet depolymerization

Marullo S.
Primo
Writing – Original Draft Preparation
;
Rizzo C.
Secondo
Membro del Collaboration Group
;
Dintcheva N. T.
Penultimo
Membro del Collaboration Group
;
D'anna F.
Ultimo
Supervision
2021-11-15

Abstract

Chemical recycling to monomers is one of the key strategies in tackling the issues deriving from persistent plastic pollution in the environment, and poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is among the most used polymers in modern society. In this context, we herein describe the glycolysis of PET to bis-hydroxyethyl terephthalate (BHET), promoted by basic cholinium salts differing for the anions, also comprising amino acid anions. We investigated the optimal reaction conditions, finding that the best-performing catalyst is [Ch][Gly], in the presence of which a conversion of 85% and a yield of 51% are achieved at 150 °C after 6 h, from PET deriving from a clear water bottle. We used our protocol to carry out the glycolysis of PET deriving from different postconsumer waste, like opaque and colored bottles and food packages, finding that the performance is better in the former compared with the latter starting materials.
15-nov-2021
Settore CHIM/06 - Chimica Organica
Marullo S., Rizzo C., Dintcheva N.T., D'anna F. (2021). Amino acid-based cholinium ionic liquids as sustainable catalysts for pet depolymerization. ACS SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY & ENGINEERING, 9(45), 15157-15165 [10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c04060].
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
ACS sust PET .pdf

Open Access dal 26/11/2022

Descrizione: Articolo principale
Tipologia: Versione Editoriale
Dimensione 3.03 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
3.03 MB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10447/525080
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 30
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 24
social impact