Highly efficient multifunctional ionic liquid for PET glycolysis under microwave irradiation

Cot, Sergi; Leu, Meike K.; Kalamiotis, Alexis; Dimitrakis, Georgios; Sans Sangorrin, Victor; de Pedro, Imanol; Cano, Israel

Abstract

An oxalate‐bridged binuclear iron(III) ionic liquid combined with an imidazolium based cation, (dimim)2[Fe2Cl4(μ‐ox)], was synthesized and characterized by a wide range of techniques. This halometallate ionic liquid was active in catalyzing the depolymerization of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) by glycolysis, under conventional and microwave‐assisted heating conditions. Both methodologies were very selective towards the production of bis(2‐hydroxyethyl)terephthalate (BHET). The employment of microwave heating proved beneficial in terms of time and energy saving when compared to the use of thermal heating. Indeed, dielectric spectroscopy studies revealed that the binuclear iron‐containing ionic liquid exhibits an excellent heating response under an electromagnetic field. The catalyst provided quantitative conversions to BHET in the glycolysis of post‐consumer PET bottles in only 3 h through microwave heating, as compared to 80 % conversion after 24 h under conventional heating.

Citation

Cot, S., Leu, M. K., Kalamiotis, A., Dimitrakis, G., Sans Sangorrin, V., de Pedro, I., & Cano, I. (2019). Highly efficient multifunctional ionic liquid for PET glycolysis under microwave irradiation. ChemPlusChem, 84(7), 786-793. https://doi.org/10.1002/cplu.201900075

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 11, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Apr 9, 2019
• Publication Date: Apr 9, 2019
• Deposit Date: Apr 15, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 10, 2020
• Journal: ChemPlusChem
• Electronic ISSN: 2192-6506
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 84
• Issue: 7
• Pages: 786-793
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/cplu.201900075
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1810999
• Publisher URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cplu.201900075
• Additional Information: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: S. Cot, M. K. Leu, A. Kalamiotis, G. Dimitrakis, V. Sans, I. de Pedro, I. Cano, ChemPlusChem 2019, 84, 786., which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/cplu.201900075. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.