Ionic liquids/ZnO nanoparticles as recyclable catalyst for polycarbonate depolymerization

A useful protocol for waste bis-phenol A-polycarbonates (BPA-PC) chemical recycling is proposed based on a bifunctional acid/basic catalyst composed by nanostructured zinc oxide and tetrabutylammonium chloride (ZnO-NPs/NBu4Cl) in quality of Lewis acid and base, respectively. Retro-polymerization reaction proved to be of general application for several nucleophiles, including water, alcohols, amines, polyols, aminols and polyamines, leading to the complete recovery of BPA monomer and enabling the PC polymer to function as a green carbonylating agent (green phosgene alternative) for preparing carbonates, urethanes and ureas. A complete depolymerization can be obtained in seven hours at 100 °C and ZnO nanocatalyst can be recycled several times without sensible loss of activity. Remarkably, when polycarbonate is reacted with glycerol, it is possible to realize in a single process the conversion of two industrial wastes (BPA-PC and glycerol) into two valuable chemicals like BPA monomer and glycerol carbonate (the latter being a useful industrial solvent and fuel additive).