Depolymerization applications

By depolymerizing PET waste with a polyol and subsequently condensing the oligomeric product with a polycarboxylic acid or anhydride, polyester resins are produced which have wide industrial applications. Depending on the polyol and polycarboxylic acid or anhydride used, saturated resins, alkyd resins, or unsaturated resins are obtained. PET wastes have been used for the production of alkyd resins in water thinnable paints. The materials obtained from the reaction of PET with a mixture of fatty acids high in linoleic acid content and trimethylolethane have been used in the preparation of water-dispersible coatings. Products of the depolymerization of PET with trimethylolpropane and pentaerythritol are used in the manufacture of high-solids paints. In the first step, PET is depolymerized with trimethylopropane and pentaerythritol at temperatures of 230-240°C. The final paint compositions contain 30-50% of PET depolymerization products.12... 

Depolymerization mechanisms, 456 Depolymerized PET products, applications of, 531-532 Deuterium NMR, 328 Dexon, 28... 

From recent literature it is known that the disintegration of lignified cell walls can be achieved by steam explosion treatments resulting in solubilization of partially depolymerized hemicelluloses [91,92]. The application of this method on wheat bran yielded feruloylated GAX with different feruUc acid content [93]. Partly depolymerized water-soluble, acetylated AGX was obtained from spruce wood by employing microwave treatment [94]. 

Polylactic acid (PLA) has been produced for many years as a high-value material for use in medical applications such as dissolvable stitches and controlled release devices, because of the high production costs. The very low toxicity and biodegradability within the body made PLA the polymer of choice for such applications. In theory PLA should be relatively simple to produce by simple condensation polymerization of lactic acid. Unfortunately, in practice, a competing depolymerization process takes place to produce the cyclic lactide (Scheme 6.10). As the degree of polymerization increases the rate slows down until the rates of depolymerization and polymerization are the same. This equilibrium is achieved before commercially useful molecular weights of PLA have been formed. 

While starches are commonly used, they are relatively poor viscosifiers. Acids and bacterial enzymes readily attack the acetal linkages resulting in facile depolymerization. Both formaldehyde and isothiazolones have been used as starch biocides (17). Development of improved high temperature water viscosifiers for drilling and other oil field applications is underway. For the... 

Ultrasound has proven effective in promoting a few heterogeneous nonmetallic reactions. As early as 1933 Moriguchi noted that the reaction of calcium carbonate and sulfuric acid was faster in the presence of ultrasound(4). In the same year Szalay reported that ultrasonic waves depolymerized starch, gum arabic and gelatin(50). Examples of synthetically useful applications are fewer than metallic systems but activity in this arena is increasing. 

While "conventional positive photoresists" are sensitive, high-resolution materials, they are essentially opaque to radiation below 300 nm. This has led researchers to examine alternate chemistry for deep-UV applications. Examples of deep-UV sensitive dissolution inhibitors include aliphatic diazoketones (61-64) and nitrobenzyl esters (65). Certain onium salts have also recently been shown to be effective inhibitors for phenolic resins (66). A novel e-beam sensitive dissolution inhibition resist was designed by Bowden, et al a (67) based on the use of a novolac resin with a poly(olefin sulfone) dissolution inhibitor. The aqueous, base-soluble novolac is rendered less soluble via addition of -10 wt % poly(2-methyl pentene-1 sulfone)(PMPS). Irradiation causes main chain scission of PMPS followed by depolymerization to volatile monomers (68). The dissolution inhibitor is thus effectively "vaporized", restoring solubility in aqueous base to the irradiated portions of the resist. Alternate resist systems based on this chemistry have also been reported (69,70). 

Interest in solution inhibition resist systems is not limited to photoresist technology. Systems that are sensitive to electron-beam irradiation have also been of active interest. While conventional positive photoresists may be used for e-beam applications (31,32), they exhibit poor sensitivity and alternatives are desirable. Bowden, et al, at AT T Bell Laboratories, developed a novel, novolac-poly(2-methyl-l-pentene sulfone) (PMPS) composite resist, NPR (Figure 9) (33,34). PMPS, which acts as a dissolution inhibitor for the novolac resin, undergoes spontaneous depolymerization upon irradiation (35). Subsequent vaporization facilitates aqueous base removal of the exposed regions. Resist systems based on this chemistry have also been reported by other workers (36,37). 

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