Paper Title

Ultrasound assisted methanolysis of polycarbonate at room temperature

Keywords

  • Ultrasound Assisted Methanolysis
  • Polycarbonate Depolymerization
  • Room Temperature Reaction
  • Extreme Conditions Reduction
  • Ultrasound Intensification
  • Methanolysis Enhancement
  • Reaction Time Reduction
  • Cavitational Enhancement
  • Bubble Dynamics Study
  • THF to Methanol Ratio
  • Solvent Viscosity Effect
  • Temperature Influence
  • NaOH Concentration
  • Ultrasonic Input Power
  • Solvent Composition
  • Bisphenol-A (BPA)
  • Dimethyl Carbonate (DMC)
  • Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR)
  • Gas Chromatography (GC)

Article Type

Research Article

Journal

Ultrasonics Sonochemistry External link

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DOI

DOI Icon 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2019.104667

Publication Info

Volume: 58 | Pages: 104667

Published On

November, 2019

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Abstract

The present work demonstrates an attempt to depolymerize Polycarbonate (PC) at room temperature, which otherwise requires extreme temperature and pressure conditions. It was achieved by the use of ultrasound to intensify the methanolysis reaction of PC. Use of ultrasound showed a significant enhancement in the rate of methanolysis which leads to a reduction in the reaction time from 45 min to 15 min to depolymerize 5 g PC at 30 °C by using 0.1 g NaOH and THF to methanol ratio equaling 3 (w/w). Bubble dynamic study also leads to a conclusion that the highest cavitational enhancement can be achieved at THF to methanol ratio equaling 3 (w/w) which might be due to the fact that this solvent mixture exhibits the least viscosity at this composition. The effect of various parameters such as temperature, NaOH concentration, ultrasonic input power and solvent composition were investigated. The products obtained were bisphenol-A(BPA) and dimethyl carbonate (DMC) which were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and gas chromatography (GC) respectively.

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