Brønsted Base Mediated Electrochemical Depolymerization of Polyethylene Terephthalate
발표자
이동준 (서강대학교)
연구책임자
김형준 (서강대학교)
초록
내용
Chemical recycling is considered one of the few viable methods to achieve closed-loop recycling. However, PET(polyethylene terephthalate), one of the most widely used plastics, is chemically recycled under high temperature and pressure conditions, which is not energy-efficient due to its high chemical resistance.
Here we demonstrate transesterification of methyl benzoate, a model compound for PET, using an electrochemical method with Brønsted base mediators under mild conditions. We induce the formation of alkoxide through a proton-coupled electron transfer(PCET) process between the mediator and alcohol, followed by transesterification induced by the interaction between the alkoxide and methyl benzoate.
Through this process, we aim to depolymerize PET to regenerate BHET(Bis(2-Hydroxyethyl) terephthalate), the monomer of PET.