Catalytic upcycling of polyolefins into lubricants
A method of upcycling polymers to useful hydrocarbon materials. A catalyst with nanoparticles on a substrate selectively docks and cleaves longer hydrocarbon chains over shorter hydrocarbon chains. The nanoparticles exhibit an edge to facet ratio to provide for more interactions with the facets.
1. A method of producing a lubricant comprising:
exposing, at a temperature of 150-350° C. and a pressure of 100-200 psi for 12— 72 hours, a plurality of polymer molecules to a catalyst comprising a substrate having a plurality of catalytic nanoparticles deposited thereon;
docking a first polymer molecule of the plurality of polymer molecules to the catalyst;
cleaving at least one carbon-carbon bond of the first polymer molecule;
forming a plurality of hydrocarbon fragments from the cleaving;
selectively docking to the catalyst a second polymer molecule of the plurality of polymer molecules, preferentially over the plurality of hydrocarbon fragments;
cleaving at least one carbon-carbon bond of the second polymer molecule; and
forming a second plurality of hydrocarbon fragments.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein exposing the plurality of polymer molecules is for at least 24 hours.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of catalytic nanoparticles comprise Pt or Ni.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises a perovskite.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the substrate comprises strontium titanate.
6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the substrate comprises alumina.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of polymer molecules are solvent-free.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of polymer molecules have a molecular weight ranging from 400-1000 Da (number average molecular weight).
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of hydrocarbon fragments are C 30 to C 76 alkanes.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of hydrocarbon fragments have 10 branches per 1000 carbon to 400 branches per 1000 carbon.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of hydrocarbon fragments are saturated hydrocarbons.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first polymer molecule is polyethylene.
13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first polymer is linear low-density polyethylene.
14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first polymer is linear high-density polyethylene.