Catalytic Cracking of Polylactic Acid to Acrylic Acid
Yuchen Jiao, Meng Wang,* and Ding Ma*
Asa typical type of sustainable plastic, polyesters can be recycled or upcycledinto value-added chemicals in a variety of methods. However, excess reagentsare required for most of the depolymerization and upcycling processes, causingthe emission of environmental pollutants and the waste of chemical resources.Here we demonstrate a one-pot catalytic process to directly crack polylacticacid into acrylic acid by acid catalyst with the assistance of an ionic liquid,Bu4PBr. Polylactic acid is attacked by the Br- from Bu4PBrand the H+ from acid to form oligomers containing Br or acryloylgroup, and these oligomers serve as intermediates to produce acrylic acidduring their mutual transformation. The acrylic acid is vaporized directly fromthe reactor and obtained in a collector with a selectivity around of 90 % whenpolylactic acid is fully converted. This green process shows great advantagesin atom economy compared to the conventional recycling/upcycling methods forpolyesters, in addition, a better efficiency in converting the polymer than thecorresponding monomer could inspire new upcycle strategies for differentplastic wastes.
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