Glycolysis of flexible polyurethane wastes using stannous octoate as the catalyst: Study on the influence of reaction parameters

The general purpose of polyurethane chemical recycling is to recover constituent polyol. Among the suitable processes, glycolysis, and specially glycolysis in two-phases is the one that allows recovering the polyol with the highest quality in comparison to single-phase processes. Recently stannous octoate has been stated as the catalyst that provides the fastest decomposition rate and the one that allows obtaining a recovered polyol with similar characteristics to fresh polyol. In this work a study of the main reaction parameters has been carried out. Optimal catalyst concentration, ratio of glycolysis agent to treated PU foam and optimal reaction temperature have been determined.