TY - JOUR
T1 - Effect of reaction conditions on the hydrogenolysis of polypropylene and polyethylene into gas and liquid alkanes
AU - Chen, Linxiao
AU - Zhu, Yifeng
AU - Meyer, Laura C.
AU - Hale, Lillian V.
AU - Le, Thuy T.
AU - Karkamkar, Abhi
AU - Lercher, Johannes A.
AU - Gutiérrez, Oliver Y.
AU - Szanyi, János
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Royal Society of Chemistry
PY - 2022/2/2
Y1 - 2022/2/2
N2 - Hydrogenolysis of polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) provides a pathway to convert these plastics into smaller hydrocarbons at relatively low temperature. Among carbon (C)-supported transition metals, ruthenium (Ru) exhibited the highest efficacy, producing mixtures of C1-C38 alkanes. The branching degree of the products depends on the position of the C-C cleavage, which can be tuned by the pressure of H2. Liquid alkanes are produced below 225 °C and 200 °C from PP and PE, respectively, at 30 bar. The C distribution and branching level of the products remain invariant below full conversion of the initial polymer. Increasing H2 pressure favors the hydrogenolysis of internal C-C bonds, reducing methane (CH4) production, and favors linear over branched products. A liquid yield of >57% was achieved with PE under optimum conditions. We reveal the impact of the starting polyolefin structure, reaction conditions, and presence of chlorine on the product distribution and branching degree.
AB - Hydrogenolysis of polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) provides a pathway to convert these plastics into smaller hydrocarbons at relatively low temperature. Among carbon (C)-supported transition metals, ruthenium (Ru) exhibited the highest efficacy, producing mixtures of C1-C38 alkanes. The branching degree of the products depends on the position of the C-C cleavage, which can be tuned by the pressure of H2. Liquid alkanes are produced below 225 °C and 200 °C from PP and PE, respectively, at 30 bar. The C distribution and branching level of the products remain invariant below full conversion of the initial polymer. Increasing H2 pressure favors the hydrogenolysis of internal C-C bonds, reducing methane (CH4) production, and favors linear over branched products. A liquid yield of >57% was achieved with PE under optimum conditions. We reveal the impact of the starting polyolefin structure, reaction conditions, and presence of chlorine on the product distribution and branching degree.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85128765849&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1039/d1re00431j
DO - 10.1039/d1re00431j
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85128765849
SN - 2058-9883
VL - 7
SP - 844
EP - 854
JO - Reaction Chemistry and Engineering
JF - Reaction Chemistry and Engineering
IS - 4
ER -