Toluene Mediated FCC of LDPE Using Ionic liquids

Abstract: Polyethylene is one of the most widely used synthetic materials produced by mankind and its accumulation in the biosphere is exceeding at an alarming rate. There are several methods to recycle or remediate the waste polyethene apart from land filling and generation of useful products from the waste is on demand for research and development. Ionic liquids are aggressively replacing several organic compounds due to their robust nature and also have novel properties that allow depolymerization of synthetic materials into simpler short chained paraffins. Initial dissolution of polymer using hot toluene followed by agitated depolymerization using EMIM-Cl (AlCl3) ionic liquid for producing fuel grade high calorie organic molecules might be proven successful. This method uses proton sources like sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid or waters that aid saturation of organic compounds by hydrogen ion exchange. This could be a novel procedure that aims to produce fuel grade products from waste synthetic polymers like polyethene.