Catalytic upcycling of polymers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021061971-A1
Application number	US-202017000969-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 24, 2020
Priority date	Aug 27, 2019
Publication date	Mar 4, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method of upcycling polymers to useful hydrocarbon materials. A catalyst with nanoparticles on a substrate selectively docks and cleaves longer hydrocarbon chains over shorter hydrocarbon chains. The nanoparticles exhibit an edge to facet ratio to provide for more interactions with the facets.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of processing a polymer comprising:
exposing at a temperature of 100° C. to 500° C. a plurality of polymer molecules to a catalyst comprising a substrate having a plurality of catalytic nanoparticles deposited thereon, each having a plurality of facets and a plurality of edges and an edge to facet ratio; docking a first polymer molecule of the plurality of polymer molecules to the catalyst; cleaving at least one carbon-carbon bond of the first polymer molecule; forming a plurality of hydrocarbon fragments from the cleaving; selectively docking to the catalyst a second polymer molecule of the plurality of polymer molecules preferentially over the plurality of carbon fragments; cleaving at least one carbon-carbon bond of the second polymer molecule; and forming a second plurality of hydrocarbon fragments from the cleaving.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the temperature is 300° C. maintained for at least 24 hours at a pressure of 15 to 1000 psi.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of nanoparticles comprise Pt.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises a pervoskite

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the substrate comprises strontium titanate.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the edge to facet ratio is less than 0.265.

7 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the substrate comprises alumina.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of polymer molecules are solvent-free.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of polymer molecules have a molecular weight ranging from 200 to 1000 Da.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of hydrocarbon fragments have a carbon backbone greater than C50.

11 . A method of processing a polymer comprising:
exposing at a temperature of 100° C. to 500° C. a solvent-free polymer mixture have a plurality polymer molecules of molecular weight ranging from 200 to 1000 Da to a catalyst comprising a substrate having a plurality of catalytic nanoparticles deposited thereon, each having a plurality of facets and edges and a ratio of edges:facets; docking a first polymer molecule of the plurality of polymer molecules to the catalyst, the docking selectively favoring molecules of longer polymer chain length; cleaving at least one carbon-carbon bond of the first polymer molecule by catalytic interaction with a facet; forming a plurality of hydrocarbon fragments from the cleaving, the plurality of hydrocarbon fragments having a carbon backbone length of greater than C50; selectively docking a second polymer molecule of the plurality of polymer molecules, preferentially over the plurality of carbon fragments, to the catalyst; cleaving at least one carbon-carbon bond of the second polymer molecule; and forming a second plurality of hydrocarbon fragments from the cleaving.

12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of nanoparticles comprise Pt.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises strontium titanate.

14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the substrate comprises alumina.

15 . A catalyst comprising:
a StTiO 3 substrate; a plurality of platinum nanoparticles disposed on the substrate; and the plurality of ordered metal nanoparticles having a diameter of 1 to 3 nm and a ratio of facets to ridges of less than 0.286.

16 . The catalyst of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of nanoparticles comprise Pt.

17 . The catalyst of claim 15 , wherein the substrate comprises a perovskite having the formula of ABP 3−x where x is in the range 0≤x≤0.5 and A is an alkaline or rare earth element and B is a 3d, 4d, or 5d transition metal element.

18 . The catalyst of claim 17 wherein the substrate comprises alumina platelets or alumina spheres.

19 . The catalyst of claim 15 , wherein the substrate is porous.

20 . The catalyst of claim 15 , wherein the substrate is non-porous.

Assignees

• Uchicago Argonne Llc

Inventors

• Delferro Massimiliano
• Ferrandon Magali S
• Kennedy Robert M
• Celik Gokhan
• Hackler Ryan
• Poeppelmeier Kenneth
• Sadow Aaron D

Classifications

• B01J35/45

  Nanoparticles · CPC title

• Y02W30/62

  Plastics recycling; Rubber recycling · CPC title

• B82Y40/00

  Manufacture or treatment of nanostructures · CPC title

• C08J11/16

  by treatment with inorganic material (C08J11/14 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B01J23/002

  Mixed oxides other than spinels, e.g. perovskite · CPC title