• Login
    View Item 
    •   Home
    • Theses and Dissertations
    • PhD Dissertations
    • View Item
    •   Home
    • Theses and Dissertations
    • PhD Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of KAUSTCommunitiesIssue DateSubmit DateThis CollectionIssue DateSubmit Date

    My Account

    Login

    Quick Links

    Open Access PolicyORCID LibguideTheses and Dissertations LibguideSubmit an Item

    Statistics

    Display statistics

    Renewable Aromatics from the Degradation of Polystyrene under Mild Conditions

    • CSV
    • RefMan
    • EndNote
    • BibTex
    • RefWorks
    Thumbnail
    Name:
    Nouf AlJabri's PhD thesis 03 10 2017.pdf
    Size:
    7.567Mb
    Format:
    PDF
    Description:
    Nouf AlJabru - Final Dissertation Paper
    Download
    Type
    Dissertation
    Authors
    Al Jabri, Nouf M. cc
    Advisors
    Huang, Kuo-Wei cc
    Committee members
    Lai, Zhiping cc
    Hadjichristidis, Nikos cc
    Han, Yu cc
    Rode. C.V
    Program
    Chemical and Biological Engineering
    KAUST Department
    Physical Science and Engineering (PSE) Division
    Date
    2017-08
    Embargo End Date
    2018-12-31
    Permanent link to this record
    http://hdl.handle.net/10754/625826
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Access Restrictions
    At the time of archiving, the student author of this dissertation opted to temporarily restrict access to it. The full text of this dissertation became available to the public after the expiration of the embargo on 2018-12-31.
    Abstract
    Polystyrene (PS) is one of the most important polymers in the plastic sector due to its inexpensive cost as well as many preferred properties. Its international market is expected to achieve $28.2 billion by 2019. Although PS has a high calorific value of 87 GJ tonne-1, there is no a practical method to manage its waste but landfill. As a result, the PS debris in the oceans has reached 70% of the total plastic debris. This issue is considered as the main economical and environmental drivers of converting polystyrene waste into renewable chemical feedstocks. The aim of this work is to develop a catalyst for converting PS into renewable chemicals under mild conditions. We introduce FeCu/Alumina with excellent catalytic activity to fully degrade polystyrene with 66% liquid yield at 250 °C. The GC/MS confirmed that the primary products are in the gasoline range. Next, we present the bimetallic FeCo/Alumina and successfully we have obtained 100% PS conversion and 90% liquid yield with maintaining the products selectivity. Later, the tri-metallic FeCuCo/Alumina was synthesized and showed 100% PS conversion and 91% liquid yield. Surprisingly, ethylbenzene was the major product in which 80 wt. % was achieved with excellent reproducibility. Furthermore, the real waste Styrofoam was thermally and catalytically degraded at 250 °C. Interestingly, a high styrene content of 78 wt. % was recovered after 30 minutes of the reaction under mild conditions. Keeping in mind that a good balance between acidity and basicity is required to convert PS into aromatic under mild reaction conditions catalytically. Finally, the performance of the catalysts was compared to literature reports and showed novel liquid yields. In conclusion, we have synthesized cheap, easy to scale up, and efficient catalysts to fully degrade PS into high liquid yields of aromatics with excellent selectivity.
    Citation
    Al Jabri, N. M. (2017). Renewable Aromatics from the Degradation of Polystyrene under Mild Conditions. KAUST Research Repository. https://doi.org/10.25781/KAUST-P152O
    DOI
    10.25781/KAUST-P152O
    ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
    10.25781/KAUST-P152O
    Scopus Count
    Collections
    PhD Dissertations; Physical Science and Engineering (PSE) Division; Chemical Engineering Program

    entitlement

     
    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2022  DuraSpace
    Quick Guide | Contact Us | KAUST University Library
    Open Repository is a service hosted by 
    Atmire NV
     

    Export search results

    The export option will allow you to export the current search results of the entered query to a file. Different formats are available for download. To export the items, click on the button corresponding with the preferred download format.

    By default, clicking on the export buttons will result in a download of the allowed maximum amount of items. For anonymous users the allowed maximum amount is 50 search results.

    To select a subset of the search results, click "Selective Export" button and make a selection of the items you want to export. The amount of items that can be exported at once is similarly restricted as the full export.

    After making a selection, click one of the export format buttons. The amount of items that will be exported is indicated in the bubble next to export format.