Hydrolysis Degradation of Polycarbonate Using Different Co–solvent Under Microwave Irradiation

Hydrolysis degradation of polycarbonate (PC) is one of the important chemical methods in environment. In this project PC degraded using microwave irradiation. The reaction was carried out by using various concentration of NaOH as catalyst, different amount of water as main solvent and constant amount of different kind of co-solvent (tetrahydrofuran and 1,4-dioxane) to compare the effect of them on yield of bisphenol A. The solid product (BPA) as a main monomer of polycarbonate analyzed by Fourier Transforms Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The highest yield of BPA (94%) was achieved during 12.5 min at 110 °C when using 3.5 g water as main solvent and 0.5 g NaOH as catalyst and 20 g tetrahydrofuran as co-solvent.