Alcoholysis of nylon 6 waste to ε-caprolactam promoted by phosphoric acid

IF 19.1 1区化学 Q1 CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Chem Pub Date : 2026-08-13 Epub Date: 2026-03-30 DOI:10.1016/j.chempr.2026.102966

Xianyuan Wu, Rahul Prasad Bangalore Ashok, Xiao Wang, Matthew S. Webber, Anna E. Brenner, Griffin Drake, Joel Miscall, Clarissa Lincoln, Elisabeth Van Roijen, Stefan J. Haugen, Jason S. DesVeaux, Taylor Uekert, Yang Shao-Horn, Shannon S. Stahl, Gregg T. Beckham, Yuriy Román-Leshkov

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Abstract

Nylon 6 is widely used in high-performance materials. However, the inherent structural rigidity of nylon 6 inhibits catalytic depolymerization to its monomer, ε-caprolactam. Here, we demonstrate an acid-catalyzed alcoholysis process that depolymerizes nylon 6 to ε-caprolactam, achieving yields up to 74% using n-propanol as solvent and phosphoric acid as catalyst at 220°C for 2 h. We further applied the process to commercial nylon-containing products, demonstrating ε-caprolactam yields of 67% to 76%. Process modeling and techno-economic analysis estimated a minimum selling price of recycled nylon 6 at $1.79/kg, 30% lower than the 5-year average market price of virgin nylon 6. These estimates depend on assumed costs and process performance and may vary with future conditions. Life cycle assessment indicated that nylon 6 produced via alcoholysis can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 63% compared with primary production. Overall, this study demonstrates a facile, cost-effective, and environmentally beneficial process for nylon 6 chemical recycling.

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磷酸促进尼龙6废醇解制ε-己内酰胺的研究

尼龙6是广泛应用于高性能材料。然而，尼龙6固有的结构刚性抑制了其单体ε-己内酰胺的催化解聚。在这里，我们展示了一种酸催化醇解工艺，将尼龙6解聚为ε-己内酰胺，在220°C下，以正丙醇为溶剂，磷酸为催化剂，在220°C下反应2小时，产率高达74%。我们进一步将该工艺应用于含尼龙的商业产品，ε-己内酰胺的产率为67%至76%。过程建模和技术经济分析估计，再生尼龙6的最低售价为1.79美元/公斤，比原始尼龙6的5年平均市场价格低30%。这些估计依赖于假定的成本和过程性能，并可能随着未来的条件而变化。生命周期评估表明，与初级生产相比，通过醇解生产的尼龙6可减少高达63%的温室气体排放。总的来说，本研究展示了尼龙6化学回收的一个简单、经济、环保的过程。

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来源期刊

Chem Environmental Science-Environmental Chemistry

CiteScore

32.40

自引率

1.30%

发文量

281

期刊介绍： Chem, affiliated with Cell as its sister journal, serves as a platform for groundbreaking research and illustrates how fundamental inquiries in chemistry and its related fields can contribute to addressing future global challenges. It was established in 2016, and is currently edited by Robert Eagling.