Chemical recycling of polyurethane plastics with reductive depolymerization using heterogeneous catalysis

The goal with this project is to develop a heterogeneous catalyst for reductive depolymerization of polyurethane plastics to produce diamine and diol monomers to enable a closed chemical recycle loop.

There is according to my knowledge, no studies available in the literature where a heterogeneous catalyst is used for this process, thus this work will be unique.

To reach these goals we will develop novel catalyst formulations that includes catalytic functions for activation of the hydrogen, amide reduction and cleavage of C-N bonds.

Active metals and alloys of metals will be used for amide reduction and hydrogen activation, while the C-N dissociation will be promoted by an alkaline support. The support should be macro/ meso-porous to facilitate the access to the active sites.

Catalyst synthesis will be combined with detailed catalyst characterization, reductive depolymerization experiments and detailed analysis of the formed product. This project consist of five work-packages and it is planned to recruit a PhD student.

Examples of scientific questions in the project: How is the interaction between the metal and support and how does that influence the activity and selectivity? Is a close proximity between the alkaline and metal sites important? Which type of metal can selectively depolymerise and simultaneously suppress the hydrogenation of the diol?

How does the strength of the alkaline sites influence the C-N cleavage? What is the catalytic surface mechanism for the process?