Use biorecoverable resources with CO2 to make plastic

Researchers at Cornell University in the United States have for the first time recently developed a method for producing plastics using biorecoverable resources and CO2 as raw materials. Although the current study is still in its infancy, companies interested in it have begun negotiations for further development of the process.

At present, CO2-based polymers have been produced using petroleum derivatives such as propylene oxide and epoxy hexane. The new plastic is a copolymer made from an alternative monomer, R-Lipene (LO) and CO2, known as Polyolein Oligocarbonate (PLC), which has many properties of polystyrene and Biodegradable advantages. LO is derived from cyclic monoterpenes and limonene in nature and can be produced from more than 300 plants. For example, 90% to 97% of orange peel oil is its R- counterpart. In the laboratory, PLCs are generated in 24 hours at room temperature and under a pressure of 0.7 MPa in a stirred reactor containing liquid LO and β-diimidazolium complex catalysts. It is 15%. (Qian Bozhang)

Source: China Chemical News