Batch Hydrothermal liquefaction of end-of-life plastic and oil characterization

Finding a proper way to manage the enormous amount of waste plastic that is globally produced, is one of the main environmental challenges of our times. Among the different types of chemical recycling, Hydrothermal Liquefaction (HTL) appears as a potential method for the treatment of plastic waste mixes, for sustainable production of biocrude or chemicals with high added value. In this work hydrothermal liquefaction reactions were carried out on a polymeric residue, obtained from an industrial plastic waste collection and recycling process. The residue has a heterogeneous composition consisting not only of polymers but also paper and metals. Two batch experiments were performed in a stainless-steel Parr autoclave at 340 °C, investigating a residence times of 5 hours and the use of an alkaline catalyst (NaOH). The oils obtained from the reactions, as well as the aqueous phases, have been analysed by different analytical techniques such as: FT-IR spectroscopy, GC-MS, GC-FID, IC. The operating conditions used in this work, allowed the degradation of cellulose and polymers with reactive sites for hydrolysis such as PET, nylon and PVAc, while polyolefins (PE, PP) were not attacked. The use of a basic catalyst favoured a greater hydrolysis rate.

Thermal Isolation of a Clean Alloy from Waste Slag and Polymeric Residue of Electronic Waste

Unprecedented advances and innovation in technology and short lifespans of electronic devices have resulted in the generation of a considerable amount of electronic waste (e-waste). Polymeric components present in electronic waste contain a wide range of organic materials encompassing a significant portion of carbon (C). This source of carbon can be employed as a reducing agent in the reduction of oxides from another waste stream, i.e., steelmaking slag, which contains ≈20 wt%–40 wt% iron oxide. This waste slag is produced on a very large scale by the steel industry due to the nature of the process. In this research, the polymeric residue leftover from waste printed circuit boards (PCBs) after a physical-chemical recycling process was used as the source of carbon in the reduction of iron oxide from electric arc furnace (EAF) slag. Prior to the recycling tests, the polymer content of e-waste was characterized in terms of composition, morphology, thermal behavior, molecular structure, hazardous elements such as Br, the volatile portion, and the fixed carbon content. After the optimization of the ratio between the waste slag (Fe source) and the waste polymer (the carbon source), the microstructure of the recycled alloy showed no Br, Cl, S, or other contamination. Hence, two problematic and complex waste streams were successfully converted to a clean alloy with 4 wt% C, 4% Cr, 2% Si, 1% Mn, and 89% Fe.

Four-Probe Measurement of Thermal Transport in Suspended Few-Layer Graphene With Polymer Residue

The presence of unknown thermal contact thermal resistance has limited prior two-probe thermal transport measurements of suspended graphene samples. Here, we report four-probe thermal transport measurements of suspended seven-layer graphene. By isolating the thermal contact resistance, we are able to attribute the observed reduced thermal conductivity primarily to polymeric residue on the sample instead of the contact thermal resistance, which resulted in ambiguity in the prior experimental studies of the effect of polymer reside. The extrinsic scattering rate due to the polymer residue is extracted from the measurement results based on a solution of the Peierls-Boltzmann phonon transport equation.

Etch Defect Characterization and Reduction in Hard-Mask-Based Al Interconnect Etching

This paper identifies the defect adders, for example, post hard-mask etch residue, post metal etch residue, and blocked etch metal island and investigates the removal characteristics of these defects within the oxide-masked Al etching process sequence. Post hard-mask etch residue containing C atom is related to the hardening of photoresist after the conventional post-RIE ashing at 275∘C. An in situ O2-based plasma ashing on RIE etcher was developed to prevent the photoresist hardening from the high-ashing temperature; followed wet stripping could successfully eliminate such hardened polymeric residue. Post metal etch residue was caused from the attack of the Al sidewall by Cl atoms, and too much CHF3 addition in the Al main etch step passivated the surface of Al resulting in poor capability to remove the Al-containing residue. The lower addition of CHF3 in the Al main etch step would benefit from the residue removal. One possibility of blocked etch metal island creating was due to the micromasking formed on the opening of TiN during the hard-mask patterning. We report that an additional TiN surface pretreatment with the Ar/CHF3/N2 plasmas could reduce the impact of the micromasking residues on blocked metal etch.

Extracellular Polysaccharides of Candida mucifera Strain CCY 29-170-1

Extracellular polysaccharides produced by Candida mucifera strain CCY 29-170-1 in a liquid medium containing malt extract have been investigated by chemical, enzymic, and NMR spectroscopic methods. Mild acid hydrolysis of the native polysaccharide, followed by enzymic treatments of the polymeric residue, afforded two low-molecular neutral homopolysaccharides. The dominant one was a (1→4)-α-D-glucan with approximately each fifth chain unit branched on O-6. The other polysaccharide was a linear (1→4)-β-D-xylan. The results of linkage analysis evidenced that, originally, some xylan-chain units bore on O-3 substituents, which were split off during the hydrolytic steps.