Chain-length-controllable upcycling of polyolefins to sulfate detergents
| dc.contributor.author | Munyaneza, Nuwayo Eric | en |
| dc.contributor.author | Ji, Ruiyang | en |
| dc.contributor.author | DiMarco, Adrian | en |
| dc.contributor.author | Miscall, Joel | en |
| dc.contributor.author | Stanley, Lisa | en |
| dc.contributor.author | Rorrer, Nicholas | en |
| dc.contributor.author | Qiao, Rui | en |
| dc.contributor.author | Liu, Guoliang | en |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-12-05T18:25:20Z | en |
| dc.date.available | 2024-12-05T18:25:20Z | en |
| dc.date.issued | 2024-11-18 | en |
| dc.description.abstract | Escalating global plastic pollution and the depletion of fossil-based resources underscore the urgent need for innovative end-of-life plastic management strategies in the context of a circular economy. Thermolysis is capable of upcycling end-of-life plastics to intermediate molecules suitable for downstream conversion to eventually high-value chemicals, but tuning the molar mass distribution of the products is challenging. Here we report a temperature-gradient thermolysis strategy for the conversion of polyethylene and polypropylene into hydrocarbons with tunable molar mass distributions. The whole thermolysis process is catalyst- and hydrogen-free. The thermolysis of polyethylene and polyethylene/polypropylene mixtures with tailored temperature gradients generated oil with an average chain length of ~C14. The oil featured a high concentration of synthetically useful α-olefins. Computational fluid dynamics simulations revealed that regulating the reactor wall temperature was the key to tuning the hydrocarbon distributions. Subsequent oxidation of the obtained α-olefins by sulfuric acid and neutralization by potassium hydroxide afforded sulfate detergents with excellent foaming behaviour and emulsifying capacity and low critical micelle concentration. Overall, this work provides a viable approach to producing value-added chemicals from end-of-life plastics, improving the circularity of the anthropogenic carbon cycle. | en |
| dc.description.sponsorship | This work is based on the project supported by NSF Award No. DMR-2411680. | en |
| dc.description.version | Published version | en |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | en |
| dc.identifier.citation | Munyaneza, N.E., Ji, R., DiMarco, A. et al. Chain-length-controllable upcycling of polyolefins to sulfate detergents. Nat Sustain (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-024-01464-x | en |
| dc.identifier.doi | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-024-01464-x | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10919/123740 | en |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.publisher | Springer Nature | en |
| dc.rights | Public Domain (U.S.) | en |
| dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/ | en |
| dc.title | Chain-length-controllable upcycling of polyolefins to sulfate detergents | en |
| dc.title.serial | Nature Sustainability | en |
| dc.type | Article - Refereed | en |
| dc.type.dcmitype | Text | en |