[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-439295-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":80,"doc-detail-439295-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":73,"head_meta":75,"extra_data":77,"updated_unix":79},105,"en","chemical-recycling-of-polycarbonate-acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene-blends-via-organocatalyzed-acetolysis","Chemical Recycling of Polycarbonate Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene Blends via Organocatalyzed Acetolysis","","Polycarbonate acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (PC/ABS) is a widely used plastic blend whose heterogeneous nature complicates recycling, often leading to landfill or incineration. The study develops selective chemical recycling using organocatalyzed acetolysis: PC is depolymerized with acetic acid under basic catalysis while ABS remains largely untouched. Organocatalyst requirements include sufficient basicity and a basic nitrogen in an aromatic ring. Kinetic behavior is pseudo first-order (Ea 96.7 kJ mol−1). PC depolymerization is demonstrated for pellets and an automotive part, with dialysis separating PC monomers and yielding ABS with properties comparable to virgin grades.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/chemical-recycling-of-polycarbonate-acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene-blends-via-organocatalyzed-acetolysis/439295/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/chemical-recycling-of-polycarbonate-acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene-blends-via-organocatalyzed-acetolysis/439295.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Aria Callaghan","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-30","2026-09-29",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":22},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"Why is recycling PC/ABS difficult using conventional methods?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"PC/ABS is heterogeneous and often appears as blends or composites with varying component ratios and additives, leading to inconsistent recyclate properties. Mechanical recycling also struggles with feedstock commingling and can cause degradation that requires added virgin material.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"What selective chemical approach does the work propose for PC/ABS recycling?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"Selective organocatalyzed acetolysis is used so that the polycarbonate (PC) is depolymerized by heating with acetic acid and a basic organocatalyst, while the ABS component is left largely intact.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"How are PC and ABS separated and what properties are obtained?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"PC monomers are recovered from the blend using dialysis, enabling separation of PC from ABS. The isolated ABS shows similar properties to virgin grades, supporting reuse with reduced reliance on virgin plastic production.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":74,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":76,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":78,"site_id":7},439295,1790765935,{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":82},"success",[83,87,91,95,100,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":84,"show_sort_weight":85,"slug":86},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":88,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":131},{"doc_id":78,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":22,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":115,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144},962084926284,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","ChemSusChem  \nRESEARCH ARTICLE   \nChemical Recycling of Polycarbonate Acrylonitrile  \nButadiene Styrene Blends via Organocatalyzed Acetolysis  \nMary E. Pool1 | Edward Savage1 | Rachel Holland2 | Ciaran W. Lahive1  | Michael P. Shaver1   \n1Department of Materials, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK | 2Polestar Automotive UK Ltd, Envisage, Unit F, Coventry, UK Correspondence: Ciaran W. Lahive ([ciaran.lahive@manchester.ac.uk](ciaran.lahive@manchester.ac.uk)) | Michael P. Shaver ([michael.shaver@manchester.ac.uk](michael.shaver@manchester.ac.uk))  \nReceived: 23 September 2025 | Revised: 4 December 2025 | Accepted: 5 December 2025  \nKeywords: depolymerization | kinetics | multimaterials | polycarbonates | recycling  \nABSTRACT  \nPolycarbonate acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (PC/ABS) is one of the most widely used plastic blends, with growing importance in both automotive and electronics applications. However, its heterogeneous nature disables recycling, leading to its disposal via landfilling or incineration. This work proposes a way to recycle this material via selective chemical recycling whereby the PC is depolymerized by acetolysis, heating the blend with acetic acid and a basic organocatalyst, leaving the ABS untouched. Catalytic optimization on PC feedstocks revealed that successful organocatalysts required not only sufficient basicity but also a basic nitrogen incorporated within an aromatic ring. A kinetic study revealed the depolymerization was pseudo first-order with an activation energy of 96 .7 kJ mol−1 . Selective acetolysis was developed for both PC/ABS pellets and a PC/ABS automotive part. Separation of the PC monomers from the ABS was achieved with dialysis, with isolated ABS having similar properties to virgin grades. This approach offers a promising route toward recovering value from recalcitrant PC/ABS blends by enabling selective deconstruction of PC and recovery of ABS, thereby minimizing dependence on virgin plastic production.  \n1 | Introduction  \nThe increasing use of plastics in vehicles has led the automotive industry to become a significant contributor to plastic waste [1–3] . This use continues to grow thanks to a typically high durability, low cost, and high strength-to-weight ratio [4] . The high specification and commingling of plastics in the transport sector, while necessary to meet stringent safety and structural requirements, presents a challenge at end-of-life (EoL) as they often exist as composites, laminates, or blends [4] . Mechanical recycling struggles with blended or mixed feedstocks, contributing to low EoL automotive plastics recycling rates (EU, 19%, 2023)  \n[1], despite legislative efforts to promote it [5] .  \nPolycarbonate/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (PC/ABS), an engineering polymer blend widely used in the automotive industry (Figure 1a), has a particularly high environmental impact, largely due to the significant emissions involved in the constituent monomer synthesis of bisphenol A (BPA) [6] . Mechanically  \nrecycling PC/ABS is extremely challenging due to high feedstock heterogeneity, differing component ratios and additive formulations, ultimately leading to inconsistent and unpredictable recyclate properties [7]. Even closed-loop, postindustrial reprocessing causes significant degradation unless high quantities of virgin material are added [8], while additionally posing a risk of forming leachable degradation products including the notably hazardous BPA [9] .  \nRecovery of BPA from these systems is thus economically and environmentally important. Chemical recycling via depolymerization has been proposed as a method to bypass the material degradation caused during mechanical recycling and allow recycling of composite and blended materials [10–13] . Depolymerization is particularly advantageous for carbonyl-containing polymers, like polycarbonates, polyamides, and polyesters, where selective cleavage allows for the formation of high-value products [10] . PC in isolat","cbCaihimsKdExxef","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaihimsKdExxef","pdf",1408903,"English","# Introduction\n## Context and recycling challenges of PC/ABS\n## Motivation for chemical recycling and selective depolymerization\n## Prior work and gaps in PC/ABS chemical recycling","[{\"question\":\"Why is recycling PC/ABS difficult using conventional methods?\",\"answer\":\"PC/ABS is heterogeneous and often appears as blends or composites with varying component ratios and additives, leading to inconsistent recyclate properties. Mechanical recycling also struggles with feedstock commingling and can cause degradation that requires added virgin material.\"},{\"question\":\"What selective chemical approach does the work propose for PC/ABS recycling?\",\"answer\":\"Selective organocatalyzed acetolysis is used so that the polycarbonate (PC) is depolymerized by heating with acetic acid and a basic organocatalyst, while the ABS component is left largely intact.\"},{\"question\":\"How are PC and ABS separated and what properties are obtained?\",\"answer\":\"PC monomers are recovered from the blend using dialysis, enabling separation of PC from ABS. The isolated ABS shows similar properties to virgin grades, supporting reuse with reduced reliance on virgin plastic production.\"}]","Chemical Recycling of Polycarbonate Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene Blends via Organocatalyzed Acetolysis | PDF",1790688080,23]