Renewable aromatics from the degradation of polystyrene under mild conditions

الملخص EN

A bimetallic FeCu / alumina catalyst was prepared and characterized.

It showed excellent catalytic activity to quantitatively convert polystyrene (PS) into aromatics at low temperatures.

A clear goldish yellow liquid was produced at 250 C in a batch reactor without distillation.

A liquid yield of 66% in an inert environment was achieved without the formation of coke and gas byproducts.

An exposure time of 90 min.

and a catalyst loading of 200 mg were considered as an optimum conditions to minimize the styrene re-polymerization.

The gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis confirms that the primary products are styrene, ethylbenzene, cumene, toluene and a-methylstyrene.