Sustainable Polycarbonate Chemical Recycling via Reusable Ionic Liquids with Tunable Hydrogen-Bond-Donor Anions
발표자
은하민 (고려대학교)
연구책임자
서지훈 (고려대학교)
공동저자
은하민 (고려대학교), 서소정 (고려대학교), 서지훈 (고려대학교)
초록
내용
Polycarbonate (PC) ethanolysis using ionic liquids (ILs) provides a chemical recycling route to recover bisphenol A (BPA) while co-producing diethyl carbonate (DEC). Because depolymerization efficiency depends on IL structure, we designed IL anions with different hydrogen-bond-donor (HBD) capability to improve PC ethanolysis. We prepared 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium-based ILs with HBD carboxylate anions—acetate, glycolate, and lactate ([EMIM][Ac], [EMIM][Ga], [EMIM][La]). Under mild conditions (90 °C, 8 h), [EMIM][La] achieved 100% PC conversion, 99.9% BPA yield, and ~95% BPA purity. The superior performance is attributed to the spatially accessible hydroxyl group of the lactate anion, enabling cooperative hydrogen-bond activation of ethanol and the carbonate linkage. [EMIM][La] was recovered and reused for five cycles and remained robust on fivefold batch scale-up. These results offer an anion-design strategy for efficient, sustainable PC chemical recycling.