Abstract
The depolymerization of bisphenol-A polycarbonate(BPAPC) in supercritical toluene was experimentally investigated. The operation parameters which influence the depolymerization reaction were investigated, such as temperature(570∼633K), reaction pressure (4.0∼7.0MPa), residence time(5∼60min), and weight ratio of toluene to PC(3∼11). The reaction products were examined by GC, GC/MS and FT-IR spectrometry. It was found that the main product of the depolymerization reaction was bisphenol-A. BPA production occupied over 55.7% amount of the depolymerization products at reaction temperature of 613K, pressure of 5.0∼6.0MPa, residence time of 15 min and Toluene/PC weight ratio of around 7. Activation energy of depolymerization is 61.41kJ/mol in supercritical toluene for first order reaction.
