TY - JOUR
T1 - Catalytic and thermal pyrolysis of polycarbonate in a fixed-bed reactor
T2 - The effect of catalysts on products yields and composition
AU - Antonakou, E. V.
AU - Kalogiannis, K. G.
AU - Stefanidis, S. D.
AU - Karakoulia, S. A.
AU - Triantafyllidis, K. S.
AU - Lappas, A. A.
AU - Achilias, D. S.
PY - 2014/12/1
Y1 - 2014/12/1
N2 - A meaningful and advanced method concerning the management of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) becomes a necessity, mainly due to their increased production, applications and their short life. Thermal methods have been an attractive option and for this reason the investigation of pyrolysis and catalytic pyrolysis as a potential method for the recycling of polycarbonate (PC) based plastics has been the aim of the current study. Nine different catalysts with variations in properties (such as porosity and acidity/basicity) were introduced in a bench scale pyrolysis system together with the polycarbonate polymeric material and the pyrolysis fractions were collected and analyzed. The liquid product consisted mainly of phenols and substituted phenols as well as the original monomer and, due to the commercial value of these products in the chemical industry, it is expected to enhance the economic viability of the process. Results showed a reduction in the degradation temperature in the presence of all catalytic materials, depending on the pore characteristics and the acidic nature of the solid. It seems that in the presence of the basic catalysts, PC degradation leads to lower molecular weight compounds and high phenolic fractions in the liquid produced. In terms of reduction in the production of the monomer, pore size rather than acidity appears to be the determining factor.
AB - A meaningful and advanced method concerning the management of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) becomes a necessity, mainly due to their increased production, applications and their short life. Thermal methods have been an attractive option and for this reason the investigation of pyrolysis and catalytic pyrolysis as a potential method for the recycling of polycarbonate (PC) based plastics has been the aim of the current study. Nine different catalysts with variations in properties (such as porosity and acidity/basicity) were introduced in a bench scale pyrolysis system together with the polycarbonate polymeric material and the pyrolysis fractions were collected and analyzed. The liquid product consisted mainly of phenols and substituted phenols as well as the original monomer and, due to the commercial value of these products in the chemical industry, it is expected to enhance the economic viability of the process. Results showed a reduction in the degradation temperature in the presence of all catalytic materials, depending on the pore characteristics and the acidic nature of the solid. It seems that in the presence of the basic catalysts, PC degradation leads to lower molecular weight compounds and high phenolic fractions in the liquid produced. In terms of reduction in the production of the monomer, pore size rather than acidity appears to be the determining factor.
KW - Catalysts
KW - Phenols
KW - Polycarbonate
KW - Pyrolysis
KW - Zeolites
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84909593249&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141391014003747?via%3Dihub
U2 - 10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2014.10.007
DO - 10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2014.10.007
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84909593249
SN - 0141-3910
VL - 110
SP - 482
EP - 491
JO - Polymer Degradation and Stability
JF - Polymer Degradation and Stability
ER -