Chemical Engineering Research & Design, Vol.132, 505-517, 2018
Bio-inspired dechlorination of poly vinyl chloride
Production of PVC through petroleum may involve chlorine as an element for the activity on microscopic (i.e., atomic or molecular) level and the same mechanism may involve for its dechlorination. Oxychlorination assisted pyrolysis is an important reaction towards the synthesis of PVC and the reverse reaction is possible for its degradation. Ethylene carbonate (EC) with hydroxyethyl carbamate (ED) supports the microbial susceptibility of PVC. EC with ED can be synthesized through an inexpensive route of using ethylene glycol (EG) with urea. Pseudomonas sp. and Aspergillus sp. are found to be responsible microbe for the resultant dechlorination. This approach provides a novel hybrid combination for PVC dechlorination and proposes EC-ED combination as a new green bio-inspiring reagent. (C) 2018 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.