Electrochemical depolymerisation of polylactic acid

Sonja D. Mürtz; Marcus S. Lehnertz; Justus Kümper; Eike Häger; Alexandra Markus; Tabea Becker; Sonja Herres-Pawlis; Regina Palkovits

doi:10.1039/D3GC04234K

Electrochemical depolymerisation of polylactic acid†

Sonja D. Mürtz,

^a Marcus S. Lehnertz,

^a Justus Kümper,

^a Eike Häger,

^a Alexandra Markus,

^a Tabea Becker,

^b Sonja Herres-Pawlis

^bd and Regina Palkovits

*^ac

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a Institute of Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry, RWTH Aachen, Worringerweg 2, 52074 Aachen, Germany
E-mail: palkovits@itmc.rwth-aachen.de

^b Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, RWTH Aachen, Landoltweg 1a, 52074 Aachen, Germany

^c Institute for Sustainable Hydrogen Economy, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Am Brainenergy Park 4, 52428 Jülich, Germany

^d Bioeconomy Science Center (BioSC), Aachen, Germany

Abstract

Herein, we present electrochemical depolymerisation as a promising new technique for chemical recycling of polylactic acid. Using platinum electrodes and a current density of 50 mA cm⁻², a maximum yield of 87% lactic acid was obtained. Moreover, first mechanistic insights, the effect of the reaction conditions, and application to real waste streams are discussed in the following.

This article is part of the themed collection: Green Chemistry 25th Anniversary Collection

Supplementary files

Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D3GC04234K
Article type: Communication
Submitted: 02 Nov 2023
Accepted: 01 Feb 2024
First published: 21 Feb 2024
This article is Open Access

Download Citation

Green Chem., 2024, Advance Article

Permissions

Request permissions

Electrochemical depolymerisation of polylactic acid

S. D. Mürtz, M. S. Lehnertz, J. Kümper, E. Häger, A. Markus, T. Becker, S. Herres-Pawlis and R. Palkovits, Green Chem., 2024, Advance Article , DOI: 10.1039/D3GC04234K

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

Green Chemistry

Electrochemical depolymerisation of polylactic acid†

Abstract

Supplementary files

Article information

Download Citation

Permissions

Electrochemical depolymerisation of polylactic acid

Social activity

Search articles by author

Spotlight

Advertisements