LAPSE:2020.0584v1
Published Article
LAPSE:2020.0584v1
Thermal Pyrolysis of Polystyrene Aided by a Nitroxide End-Functionality. Experiments and Modeling
June 10, 2020
The thermal pyrolysis of polystyrene (PS) is gaining importance as the social pressure for achieving a circular economy is growing; moreover, the recovery of styrene monomer in such a process is especially relevant. In this study, a simple thermal pyrolysis process in the temperature range of 390−450 °C is developed. A working hypothesis is that by using a nitroxide-end functionalized PS (PS-T or dormant polymer), the initiation process for the production of monomer (unzipping) during the PS pyrolysis could be enhanced due to the tendency of the PS-T to activate at the nitroxide end. Two types of PS were used in this work, the first one was synthesized by free-radical polymerization (FRP-dead polymer) and the second by nitroxide-mediated polymerization (NMP) using three levels of nitroxide to initiator ratio: 1.3, 1.1, and 0.9. Analysis of the recovered products of the pyrolysis by gas-mass spectroscopy shows that the yield of styrene increases from ∼33% in the case of dead polymer to ∼38.5% for PS-T. A kinetic and mathematical model for the pyrolysis of dead and dormant polymer is proposed and solved by the method of moments. After a parameter sensitivity study and data fitting, the model is capable of explaining the main experimental trends observed.
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Keywords
mathematical modeling, nitroxide mediated polymerization, polystyrene, thermal pyrolysis
Subject
Suggested Citation
Ordaz-Quintero A, Monroy-Alonso A, Saldívar-Guerra E. Thermal Pyrolysis of Polystyrene Aided by a Nitroxide End-Functionality. Experiments and Modeling. (2020). LAPSE:2020.0584v1
Author Affiliations
Ordaz-Quintero A: Centro de Investigación en Química Aplicada, Blvd. Enrique Reyna 140, Saltillo Coahuila 25294, Mexico
Monroy-Alonso A: Centro de Investigación en Química Aplicada, Blvd. Enrique Reyna 140, Saltillo Coahuila 25294, Mexico
Saldívar-Guerra E: Centro de Investigación en Química Aplicada, Blvd. Enrique Reyna 140, Saltillo Coahuila 25294, Mexico
Monroy-Alonso A: Centro de Investigación en Química Aplicada, Blvd. Enrique Reyna 140, Saltillo Coahuila 25294, Mexico
Saldívar-Guerra E: Centro de Investigación en Química Aplicada, Blvd. Enrique Reyna 140, Saltillo Coahuila 25294, Mexico
Journal Name
Processes
Volume
8
Issue
4
Article Number
E432
Year
2020
Publication Date
2020-04-05
Published Version
ISSN
2227-9717
Version Comments
Original Submission
Other Meta
PII: pr8040432, Publication Type: Journal Article
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Published Article
LAPSE:2020.0584v1
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External Link
doi:10.3390/pr8040432
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Version History
[v1] (Original Submission)
Jun 10, 2020
Verified by curator on
Jun 10, 2020
This Version Number
v1
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https://psecommunity.org/LAPSE:2020.0584v1
Original Submitter
Calvin Tsay
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