Depolymerization of Polyester Fibers with Dimethyl Carbonate-Aided Methanolysis

Overview

Journal ACS Mater Au

Date 2024 May 13

PMID 38737120

Authors

Shinji Tanaka

Maito Koga

Takashi Kuragano

Atsuko Ogawa

Hibiki Ogiwara

Kazuhiko Sato

Yumiko Nakajima

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Polyester fibers, comprising mostly poly(ethylene terephthalate) with high crystalline content, represent the most commonly produced plastic for ubiquitous textiles, and approximately 60 million tons are manufactured annually worldwide. Considering the social issues of mismanaged waste produced from used textile products, there is an urgent demand for sustainable waste polyester fiber recycling methods. We developed a low-temperature, rapid, and efficient depolymerization method for recycling polyester fibers. By utilizing methanolysis with dimethyl carbonate as a trapping agent for ethylene glycol, depolymerization of polyester fibers from textile products proceeded at 50 °C for 2 h, affording dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) in a >90% yield. This strategy allowed us to depolymerize even practical polyester textiles blended with other fibers to selectively isolate DMT in high yields. This method was also applicable for colored polyester textiles, and analytically pure DMT was isolated via depolymerization and decolorization processes.

Citing Articles

The Current State-of-the-Art of the Processes Involved in the Chemical Recycling of Textile Waste.

Ndagano U, Cahill L, Smullen C, Gaughran J, Kelleher S Molecules. 2025; 30(2.

PMID: 39860169 PMC: 11767914. DOI: 10.3390/molecules30020299.

References

Chen X, Wang Y, Zhang L . Recent Progress in the Chemical Upcycling of Plastic Wastes. ChemSusChem. 2021; 14(19):4137-4151. DOI: 10.1002/cssc.202100868. View

Gibb B . Plastics are forever. Nat Chem. 2019; 11(5):394-395. DOI: 10.1038/s41557-019-0260-7. View

Lu H, Diaz D, Czarnecki N, Zhu C, Kim W, Shroff R . Machine learning-aided engineering of hydrolases for PET depolymerization. Nature. 2022; 604(7907):662-667. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04599-z. View

Peng Y, Yang J, Deng C, Deng J, Shen L, Fu Y . Acetolysis of waste polyethylene terephthalate for upcycling and life-cycle assessment study. Nat Commun. 2023; 14(1):3249. PMC: 10241940. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38998-1. View

Abe R, Komine N, Nomura K, Hirano M . La(III)-Catalysed degradation of polyesters to monomers transesterifications. Chem Commun (Camb). 2022; 58(58):8141-8144. DOI: 10.1039/d2cc02448a. View

Kwon D . Three ways to solve the plastics pollution crisis. Nature. 2023; 616(7956):234-237. DOI: 10.1038/d41586-023-00975-5. View

Tournier V, Topham C, Gilles A, David B, Folgoas C, Moya-Leclair E . An engineered PET depolymerase to break down and recycle plastic bottles. Nature. 2020; 580(7802):216-219. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2149-4. View

Geyer R, Jambeck J, Law K . Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made. Sci Adv. 2017; 3(7):e1700782. PMC: 5517107. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1700782. View

Chen Z, Duan R, Xiao Y, Wei Y, Zhang H, Sun X . Biodegradation of highly crystallized poly(ethylene terephthalate) through cell surface codisplay of bacterial PETase and hydrophobin. Nat Commun. 2022; 13(1):7138. PMC: 9681837. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-34908-z. View

10.

Strukil V . Highly Efficient Solid-State Hydrolysis of Waste Polyethylene Terephthalate by Mechanochemical Milling and Vapor-Assisted Aging. ChemSusChem. 2020; 14(1):330-338. DOI: 10.1002/cssc.202002124. View

11.

Kawai F, Furushima Y, Mochizuki N, Muraki N, Yamashita M, Iida A . Efficient depolymerization of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyethylene furanoate by engineered PET hydrolase Cut190. AMB Express. 2022; 12(1):134. PMC: 9606173. DOI: 10.1186/s13568-022-01474-y. View

12.

Tundo P, Selva M . The chemistry of dimethyl carbonate. Acc Chem Res. 2002; 35(9):706-16. DOI: 10.1021/ar010076f. View

13.

Zhang X, Fevre M, Jones G, Waymouth R . Catalysis as an Enabling Science for Sustainable Polymers. Chem Rev. 2017; 118(2):839-885. DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.7b00329. View

14.

Yoshida S, Hiraga K, Takehana T, Taniguchi I, Yamaji H, Maeda Y . A bacterium that degrades and assimilates poly(ethylene terephthalate). Science. 2016; 351(6278):1196-9. DOI: 10.1126/science.aad6359. View