Issue 10, 2021

Organocatalyzed closed-loop chemical recycling of thermo-compressed films of poly(ethylene furanoate)

Abstract

Monomers obtained from renewable feedstocks have emerged as a sustainable alternative to petroleum derived polymers. One of the biomass derived polyesters that has recently been gaining attention as an alternative to petrochemical polyethylene terephtalate (PET) for food and beverage packaging applications is poly(ethylene furanoate) (PEF). However, similar to PET, PEF is not biodegradable or compostable and its end-of-life options must be thus considered to avoid contributing to the accumulation of plastic waste. In this manuscript, PEF films were first produced using thermo-compression, an industrially relevant processing method, and their thermal, mechanical, and barrier properties were determined and compared to those of PET and other biopolyesters to ascertain their suitability for food packaging. Thereafter, the chemical glycolysis of PEF film waste was investigated using a sustainable and thermally stable acid–base organocatalyst. After succesfully deconstructing PEF into bis(2-hydroxyethyl)-furan-2,5-dicarboxylate (BHEF), the obtained BHEF diester was used to resynthesize PEF using the same catalyst to generate a new biopolyester with similar thermal properties to the virgin one in a closed-loop cycle.

Graphical abstract: Organocatalyzed closed-loop chemical recycling of thermo-compressed films of poly(ethylene furanoate)

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
25 Du 2020
Accepted
11 Gen. 2021
First published
12 Gen. 2021

Polym. Chem., 2021,12, 1571-1580

Organocatalyzed closed-loop chemical recycling of thermo-compressed films of poly(ethylene furanoate)

E. Gabirondo, B. Melendez-Rodriguez, C. Arnal, J. M. Lagaron, A. Martínez de Ilarduya, H. Sardon and S. Torres-Giner, Polym. Chem., 2021, 12, 1571 DOI: 10.1039/D0PY01623C

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