Upcycling Poly(vinyl chloride) and Polystyrene Plastics Using Photothermal Conversion

Poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) and polystyrene (PS) are among the least recycled plastics. In this work, we developed a simple and novel strategy to valorize PVC and PS plastics via photothermal conversion to (1-chloroethyl)benzene, a commodity chemical with excellent versatility. As PVC is known to release HCl gas and decompose into conjugated polyenes, we envisioned a dual role for PVC plastics. While the in situ-generated HCl serves as a chlorine source, the resulting dehydrochlorinated-PVC (DHPVC) functions as a photothermal agent to accelerate the hydrochlorination of styrene. We converted PVC and styrene in up to 89% (1-chloroethyl)benzene in less than 1 h of white light irradiation. Subsequent nucleophilic…

• PU
  Princeton University
• BE
  Basic Energy Sciences

  Award: DE - SC0024412