Upcycling of Polystyrene waste into a Chemical

Do you know polystyrene can be upcycled

Stache, assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Cornell University, has discovered a new path for polystyrene waste that includes being upcycled into benzoic acid, a chemical with wide commercial demand, through a mild process that uses light, an oxygen-rich environment, and an abundant iron-based catalyst

Polystyrene (PS) plastics vary widely in form, use, and texture – from light, airy Styrofoam to hard CD cases, and many forms in between. All these products are similar in chemical composition, Stache said

To test the tolerance of the process to other materials mixed with the PS plastic, the researchers used several products, ranging from packaging materials to coffee cup lids

They found that three items – a white coffee cup lid, Styrofoam, and a clear lid – degraded efficiently. A black coffee cup lid degraded less efficiently, possibly because the black dyes inhibit light penetration, Stache said

“These results signify that our system could efficiently break down commercial samples of PS, even with additional composite and insoluble material”, she said

Ref: www.news.cornell.edu

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