Page 66 - Plastics News May 2017

TECHNOLOGY

Process to make butadiene from renewable sources like trees, grass and
corn

utadiene could get a lot greener soon, thanks to to make nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), it becomes the key
Bthe ingenuity of a team of scientists from three component in hoses, seals and the rubber gloves ubiquitous
U.S. research universities. The scientific team from the to medical settings. In the world of plastics, butadiene is
University of Delaware, the University of Minnesota and the chief chemical component in acrylonitrile-butadiene-
the University of Massachusetts - has invented a process to styrene (ABS), a hard plastic that can be molded into
make butadiene from renewable sources like trees, grasses rigid shapes. Tough ABS plastic is used to make video
and corn, as reported by cse.umn.edu. The findings, game consoles, automotive parts, sporting goods, medical
now online, will be published in the American Chemical devices and interlocking plastic toy bricks, among other
Society's ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, a
leading journal in green chemistry and engineering. The products.
study's authors are all affiliated with the Catalysis Center The novel chemistry included a three-step process
for Energy Innovation (CCEI) based at the University of starting from biomass-derived sugars. Using technology
developed within CCEI, the team converted sugars to a
ring compound called furfural. In the second step, the
team further processed furfural to another ring compound
called tetrahydrofuran (THF). It was in the third step that
the team found the breakthrough chemical manufacturing
technology. Using a new catalyst called "phosphorous all-
silica zeolite," developed within the center, the team was
able to convert THF to butadiene with high yield (greater
than 95%). The team called this new, selective reaction
"dehydra-decyclization" to represent its capability
for simultaneously removing water and opening ring
compounds at once.
"We discovered that phosphorus-based catalysts supported
by silica and zeolites exhibit high selectivity for
Delaware. CCEI is an Energy Frontier Research Center
funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. manufacturing chemicals like butadiene," says Prof.
Wei Fan of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
"Our team combined a catalyst we recently discovered "When comparing their capability for controlling certain
with new and exciting chemistry to find the first high-yield, industrial chemistry uses with that of other catalysts, the
low-cost method of manufacturing butadiene," says CCEI phosphorous materials appear truly unique and nicely
Director Dionisios Vlachos, the Allan and Myra Ferguson complement the set of catalysts we have been developing
Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at at CCEI." The invention of renewable rubber is part of
UD and a co-author of the study. "This research could CCEI's larger mission. Initiated in 2009, CCEI has focused
transform the multi-billion-dollar plastics and rubber on transformational catalytic technology to produce
industries." renewable chemicals and biofuels from natural biomass
When this four-carbon molecule of butadiene undergoes sources. "This newer technology significantly expands the
a chemical reaction to form long chains called polymers, slate of molecules we can make from lignocellulose," says
styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) is formed, which is used to Prof. Paul Dauenhauer of the University of Minnesota, who
make abrasive-resistant automobile tires. When blended is co-director of CCEI and a co-author of the study.

Plastics News | May 2017 66