Newswise — Carbon dioxide removed from smokestack emissions in order to slow global warming in the future could become a valuable raw material for the production of DVDs, beverage bottles and other products made from polycarbonate plastics, chemists are reporting.

In separate reports scheduled for presentation today at the 235th annual meeting of the American Chemical Society, Thomas E. Müller, Ph.D., and Toshiyasu Sakakura, Ph.D., described innovative ways of making polycarbonate plastics from CO2. Those processes offer consumers the potential for less expensive, safer and greener products compared to current production methods, the researchers agreed.

"Carbon dioxide is so readily available, especially from the smokestack of industries that burn coal and other fossil fuels," Müller said. He is at the new research center for catalysis CAT, a joint 5-year project of RWTH Aachen and industrial giant Bayer Material Science AG and Bayer Technology Services GmbH. "And it's a very cheap starting material. If we can replace more expensive starting materials with CO2, then you'll have an economic driving force."

In another ACS presentation, scientists from Japan also reported using CO2 as an alternative feedstock to change carbonates and urethanes into plastics and also battery components. Sakakura, the team's lead researcher, noted that the new process is simpler and faster than another process developed by a Japanese firm. Sakakura is with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Tsukuba, Japan.

Müller pointed out that millions of tons of polycarbonates already are sold each year with the volume rising. Perhaps no other consumer product has such a great potential for use in removing carbon dioxide from the environment, he added. These hard, tough materials represent "intriguing sinks" for exhaust carbon dioxide and are the mainstay for producing eyeglass lenses, automotive headlamp lenses, DVDs and CDs, beverage bottles, and a spectrum of other consumer products.

Trapping carbon dioxide in those plastics would avoid the release of many million of tons into the environment, Müller said. "Using CO2 to create polycarbonates might not solve the total carbon dioxide problem, but it could be a significant contribution."

Consumers may be drinking from a carbon dioxide product and watching movies on waste-CO2 DVDs sooner than they think. "I would say it's a matter of a few years" before CO2-derived polymers are available to the public.

The American Chemical Society — the world's largest scientific society — is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

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The papers on this research, FUEL 150 and FUEL 155, will be presented at 1:30 p.m. and 3:45 p.m., respectively, on Tuesday, April 8, at the Morial Convention Center, Rooms 240/241, during the symposium, "Hybrid Nanotechnologies for an Enhanced CO2 Fixation."

Thomas E. Müller, Ph.D., is a Professor at the Institute for Technical Chemistry and Macromolecular Chemistry at RWTH Aachen University in Aachen, Germany.

Toshiyasu Sakakura, Ph.D., is a researcher with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Tsukuba, Japan. ALL PAPERS ARE EMBARGOED UNTIL DATE AND TIME OF PRESENTATION, UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED The paper on this research, FUEL 150, will be presented at 1:30 PM, Tuesday, April 8, 2008, during the symposium, "Hybrid Nanotechnologies for an Enhanced CO2 Fixation." FUEL 150CO2 Fixation in polymers Program Selection: Division of Fuel ChemistryTopic Selection: Hybrid Nanotechnologies for an Enhanced CO2 Fixation: CO2 Conversion into Products of the Chemical and Energy Industry: Heterogeneous CatalysisLead Presenter's Email:

Preprint submitted: YES!Thomas E. Müller, Center for catalysis research, RWTH Aachen, Institut für Technische und Makromolekulare Chemie, Worringerweg 1, Aachen 52074, Germany, Fax: +49 241 8022177,

Abstract

An intriguing sink for exhaust CO2, which is otherwise released into the atmosphere, is the utilization for chemical syntheses. In particular, the incorporation in polymers and other materials produced in large-scale appears attractive. As new technologies are emerging, the direct utilization of CO2 as reagent appears a viable synthetic route. One of reactions becoming feasible is the synthesis of dimethylcarbonate by direct carbonylation of methanol. The reaction is equilibrium limited to about 1% conversion under typical reaction conditions, but can be realized by coupling with an exothermal reaction for removal of the by-product water. The key to the successful development of new catalysts is the activation of CO2 by binding to either basic groups or Lewis acidic functionalities. Dimethylcarbonate is an excellent starting material for polycarbonate synthesis. In the lecture, the emerging technologies for the fixation of CO2 in polymers will be reviewed and discussed.

________________________________________Researcher Provided Non-Technical Summary

Briefly explain in lay language what you have done, why it is significant and what are its implications (particularly to the general public)

Carbon dioxide produced during combustion of fossil fuels is generally released into the atmosphere, where it contributes to the greenhouse effect. However, it could also be a valuable feedstock for chemical industry. This requires that new methodologies for activation of the chemically very inert molecule be developed. A potential outlet is the carbon dioxide based synthesis of polycarbonates, which find manifold use as transparent material for sunglass/eyeglass lenses, safety glasses, automotive headlamp lenses, compact discs, drinking bottles, and many more. As polycarbonates are produced on large scale, capturing in this way would avoid the release of many million of tons of carbon dioxide into the environment. How new is this work and how does it differ from that of others who may be doing similar research?

Bayer MaterialScience AG and Bayer Technology Services GmbH have signed a five-year agreement with the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen for intensive cooperation in catalysis research. The utilization of carbon dioxide will be part of the research at the new center for catalysis research.

FUEL 155Synthesis of carbonates and urethanes from carbon dioxide Program Selection: Division of Fuel ChemistryTopic Selection: Hybrid Nanotechnologies for an Enhanced CO2 Fixation: CO2 Conversion into Products of the Chemical and Energy Industry: Heterogeneous CatalysisLead Presenter's Email:

Preprint submitted: YES!Toshiyasu Sakakura, Jun-Chul Choi, Kazufumi Kohno, and Hiroyuki Yasuda, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), AIST Central 5, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba 305-8565, Japan, Fax: +81-298-61-4719,

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American Chemical Society’s 235th national meeting