Recycling post-consumer PLA into acrylic acid or lactide using phosphonium ionic liquids

Abstract

Chemical recycling of polymer waste to the original monomer (CRM) forms an important concept for a circular plastic economy. For poly(lactic acid) (PLA) this is often neglected as a result...

Hydrolytic depolymerisation of polyesters over heterogeneous ZnO catalyst

“…46 In a recent paper, the depolymerisation of PLA into reusable lactide and acrylic acid was reported using ionic liquids and an acidic co-catalyst. 47 Having established ZnO to be an effective heterogeneous catalyst for the hydrolysis reaction of PLA, we then investigated the hydrolysis of a more complex co-polymer, namely polyethylene terephthalate (PET). PET is one of the most common synthetic organic polymers.…”

“…46 In a recent paper, the depolymerisation of PLA into reusable lactide and acrylic acid was reported using ionic liquids and an acidic co-catalyst. 47…”

Structural subtleties and catalytic activity of sodium aminophenolate complexes in polylactide degradation: towards sustainable waste management solutions

“…[39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49] The portfolio of investigated catalysts includes simple inorganic compounds, [46][47][48][49][50] organic compounds, 44,45 and ionic liquids. [38][39][40][41]51,52 It seems obvious that this set should include metal coordination compounds that are active in the ROP process of lactides, but this aspect has only emerged in recent years, generally for magnesium and zinc compounds. 32,[53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61] The first example was a homoleptic zinc aminophenolate, where we demonstrated that this catalyst exhibits bifunctional characteristics, being active in both the lactide polymerization process and PLA degradation, although the latter process is significantly less efficient.…”