Glycolysis: an efficient route for recycling of end of life polyurethane foams

Heiran, Roghayeh; Ghaderian, Abolfazl; Reghunadhan, Arunima; Sedaghati, Fatemeh; Thomas, Sabu; Haghighi, Amir Hossein

doi:10.1007/s10965-020-02383-z

Cited by 71 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 166 publications

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“…[5,10] To date, a few chemical recycling methods exist for PU deconstruction, however, only glycolysis is currently utilized on an industrial scale, albeit mainly contaminant-free PU waste is recycled just for the recovery of the polyol fraction. [11][12][13] Recently, another chemical recycling strategy in the form of catalytic hydrogenation for the deconstruction of various polymers has gained more attention. Several homogenous transition metal catalysts have successfully been employed in lab-scale hydrogenation of carbonyl containing polymers, such as polyesters, [14][15][16][17][18] polycarbonates, [19][20][21][22][23][24] and polyamides.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Manganese Catalysts for the Hydrogenative Deconstruction of Commercial and End‐of‐Life Polyurethane Samples

et al. 2021

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Polyurethane (PU) is a thermoset plastic that is found in everyday objects, such as mattresses and shoes, but also in more sophisticated materials, including windmills and airplanes, and as insulation materials in refrigerators and buildings. Because of extensive inter-cross linkages in PU, current recycling methods are somewhat lacking. In this work, the effective catalytic hydrogenation of PU materials is carried out by applying a catalyst based on the earth-abundant metal manganese, to give amine and polyol fractions, which represent the original monomeric composition. In particular, Mn-Ph MACHO is found to catalytically deconstruct flexible foam, molded foams, insulation, and end-of-life materials at 1 wt.% catalyst loading by applying a reaction temperature of 180 °C, 50 bar of H 2 , and 0.9 wt.% of KOH in isopropyl alcohol. The protocol is showcased in the catalytic deconstruction of 2 g of mattress foam using only 0.13 wt.% catalyst, resulting in 90 % weight recovery and a turnover number of 905.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Manganese Catalysts for the Hydrogenative Deconstruction of Commercial and End‐of‐Life Polyurethane Samples

et al. 2021

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“…The glycolysis process has many advantages: it has a short reaction time and uses minimal energy. Nevertheless, PET fiber of glycolysis is slowly processed without a catalyst [225,226].…”

Section: Textile Recycling Using Glycolysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Disperse Red 60 (DR60) from the glycolysis products of waste PET fabrics and for the rapid decolorization of textile dyes using ceria and tin-doped ZnO nanoparticles [240,241]. Huang et al presented ion-exchange resin (D201) to efficiently remove colorants after PET glycolysis [226]. The removal rate of the colorant and the retention efficiency of BHET was over 99% and 95%, respectively.…”

Section: Decolorization Technology In Textile Recyclingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Possibility Routes for Textile Recycling Technology

et al. 2021

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The fashion industry contributes to a significant environmental issue due to the increasing production and needs of the industry. The proactive efforts toward developing a more sustainable process via textile recycling has become the preferable solution. This urgent and important need to develop cheap and efficient recycling methods for textile waste has led to the research community’s development of various recycling methods. The textile waste recycling process can be categorized into chemical and mechanical recycling methods. This paper provides an overview of the state of the art regarding different types of textile recycling technologies along with their current challenges and limitations. The critical parameters determining recycling performance are summarized and discussed and focus on the current challenges in mechanical and chemical recycling (pyrolysis, enzymatic hydrolysis, hydrothermal, ammonolysis, and glycolysis). Textile waste has been demonstrated to be re-spun into yarn (re-woven or knitted) by spinning carded yarn and mixed shoddy through mechanical recycling. On the other hand, it is difficult to recycle some textiles by means of enzymatic hydrolysis; high product yield has been shown under mild temperatures. Furthermore, the emergence of existing technology such as the internet of things (IoT) being implemented to enable efficient textile waste sorting and identification is also discussed. Moreover, we provide an outlook as to upcoming technological developments that will contribute to facilitating the circular economy, allowing for a more sustainable textile recycling process.

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“…), the most important one is the glycolysis, because it provides the best outcomes with respect to the quality of the recovered product at mild reaction conditions [ 5 ]. The glycolysis process is based on a transesterification reaction, in which the high molecular weight polyol attached to the isocyanate part of the urethane is exchanged by the short chain glycol [ 5 , 16 ]. A general scheme of the PU glycolysis is shown below ( Scheme 1 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Glycolysis of Polyurethanes Composites Containing Nanosilica

et al. 2021

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Rigid polyurethane (RPU) foams have been successfully glycolyzed by using diethylene glycol (DEG) and crude glycerol (CG) as transesterification agents. However, DEG did not allow to achieve a split-phase process, obtaining a product with low polyol purity (61.7 wt %). On contrary, CG allowed to achieve a split-phase glycolysis improving the recovered polyol purity (76.5%). This is an important novelty since, up to now, RPUs were glycolyzed in single-phase processes giving products of low polyol concentration, which reduced the further applications. Moreover, the nanosilica used as filler of the glycolyzed foams was recovered completely pure. The recovered polyol successfully replaced up to 60% of the raw polyol in the synthesis of RPU foams and including the recovered nanosilica in the same concentration than in glycolyzed foam. Thus, the feasibility of the chemical recycling of this type of polyurethane composites has been demonstrated. Additionally, PU foams were synthesized employing fresh nanosilica to evaluate whether the recovered nanosilica has any influence on the RPU foam properties. These foams were characterized structurally, mechanically and thermally with the aim of proving that they met the specifications of commercial foams. Finally, the feasibility of recovering the of CG by vacuum distillation has been demonstrated.

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Glycolysis: an efficient route for recycling of end of life polyurethane foams

Cited by 71 publications

References 166 publications

Evaluation of Manganese Catalysts for the Hydrogenative Deconstruction of Commercial and End‐of‐Life Polyurethane Samples

Evaluation of Manganese Catalysts for the Hydrogenative Deconstruction of Commercial and End‐of‐Life Polyurethane Samples

Possibility Routes for Textile Recycling Technology

Glycolysis of Polyurethanes Composites Containing Nanosilica

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