Poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) is one of the most widely used plastics. However, a major challenge in recycling PVC is that there is no economical method to separate and remove its toxic phthalate plasticizers. This research made a breakthrough by extracting PVC with liquefied dimethyl ether (DME) and successfully separating the plasticizer components. Nearly all (97.1 %) of the di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate plasticizer was extracted within 30 min by passing liquefied DME (285 g) through PVC at 25 °C. The compatibility of PVC with organic solvents, including liquefied DME, was derived theoretically from their Hansen solubility parameters (HSP), and actual dissolution experiments were conducted to determine the optimal PVC solvents. A liquefied DME mixture was used to dissolve PVC, and the extract was diluted with ethanol to precipitate the dissolved PVC. We demonstrated that liquefied DME is a promising method for producing high quality recycled products and that the process retains the fundamental properties of plasticizers and PVC without inducing degradation or depolymerization. Because of its low boiling point, DME can be easily separated from the solute after extraction, allowing for efficient reuse of the solvent, extracted plasticizer, and PVC. DME does not require heat and produces little harmful wastewater, which significantly reduces the energy consumption of the plasticizer additive separation process.
Keywords: Liquefied dimethyl ether; Phthalate ester plasticizer; Plastics recycling; Poly(vinyl chloride).
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