21st century has seen an astronomical advancement in science and technology. But along with the technological advancement, Global Warming,Climate Change and increased carbon emissions have become major environmental issues. Reducing atmospheric CO2 levels is of utmost importance. CO2 is a greenhouse gas and is responsible for global warming. There is a worldwide need for reducing CO2 levels and converting it into something useful.This field has seen substantial amount of progress over the years. Many catalysts have been developed but a majority of them give toxic byproducts. Processes using substrates are safe but a high level of water by products keep this process from synthesizing Polycarbonates. Most processes use dehydrating agents but it requires high pressure CO2. So by combining atmospheric CO2 with a CeO2 catalyst, scientists from University of Osaka, Tohoku University and Nippon Steel Corporation developed a catalytic process to manufacture polycarbonate diols without a dehydrating agent.The method was published in the journal "Green Chemistry". It does not rely on toxic gases like CO and Phosgene and is a high yield green reaction.
This field has seen substantial amount of progress over the years. Many catalysts have been developed but a majority of them give toxic byproducts. Processes using substrates are safe but a high level of water by products keep this process from synthesizing Polycarbonates. Most processes use dehydrating agents but it requires high pressure CO2. Some of the issues faced during the process are requirement of a large amount of CO2, recovery of dehydrating agents and contamination of byproducts. To counter the above issues, scientists developed a catalytic process without dehydrating agents. By focusing on the boiling points of product and water, the scientists developed a high carbon fixation yield by blowing CO2 at atmospheric pressure to evaporate the excess water. Among the catalysts used CeO2 showed the highest activity. The process successfully synthesized polycarbonate diols from Diols and CO2. The above process can be used in synthesis of Carbonates, Carbamates and ureas which are useful additives for Lithium ion batteries and raw materials for polymer synthesis. Thus, we can say that this method is an Eco-friendly and effective method for manufacturing plastics.
Reference:
• Gu, Yu, et al. "Direct synthesis of alternating polycarbonates from CO2 and diols by using a catalyst system of CeO2 and 2-furonitrile." ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering 7.6 (2019): 6304-6315.
• World's first 'green' synthesis of plastics from CO2 | Access date- 30th July, 2021
Content by- Yash Gondegaonkar
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