Huang, Zhiliang, Shanmugam, Muralidharan, Liu, Zhao, Brookfield, Adam, Bennett, Elliot L 
ORCID: 0000-0003-3798-4296, Guan, Renpeng, Herrera, David E Vega, Lopez-Sanchez, Jose A, Slater, Anna G ORCID: 0000-0002-1435-4331, McInnes, Eric JL et al (show 2 more authors)
(2022)
Chemical Recycling of Polystyrene to Valuable Chemicals via Selective Acid-Catalyzed Aerobic Oxidation under Visible Light.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 144 (14).
pp. 6532-6542.
|
Text
Manuscript.pdf - Author Accepted Manuscript Download (1MB) | Preview |
Abstract
Chemical recycling is one of the most promising technologies that could contribute to circular economy targets by providing solutions to plastic waste; however, it is still at an early stage of development. In this work, we describe the first light-driven, acid-catalyzed protocol for chemical recycling of polystyrene waste to valuable chemicals under 1 bar of O<sub>2</sub>. Requiring no photosensitizers and only mild reaction conditions, the protocol is operationally simple and has also been demonstrated in a flow system. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) investigations and density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that singlet oxygen is involved as the reactive oxygen species in this degradation process, which abstracts a hydrogen atom from a tertiary C-H bond, leading to hydroperoxidation and subsequent C-C bond cracking events via a radical process. Notably, our study indicates that an adduct of polystyrene and an acid catalyst might be formed in situ, which could act as a photosensitizer to initiate the formation of singlet oxygen. In addition, the oxidized polystyrene polymer may play a role in the production of singlet oxygen under light.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Singlet Oxygen, Polystyrenes, Photosensitizing Agents, Oxidation-Reduction, Catalysis, Light |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Science and Engineering > School of Physical Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Symplectic Admin |
| Date Deposited: | 04 Apr 2022 15:28 |
| Last Modified: | 30 Mar 2023 01:30 |
| DOI: | 10.1021/jacs.2c01410 |
| Related URLs: | |
| URI: | https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3152066 |
Dimensions
Dimensions
