Green chemical recycling of poly (bisphenol a carbonate) using microwave synthesis

With an increase in use of electronics and a decrease in their life span there has been an exponential increase in electronic waste. One of the largest materials used in electronics is a plastic called poly (bisphenol A carbonate) a complex plastic with high thermal stability and strength. Due to its complex structure this poly (bisphenol A carbonate) is difficult to recycle and often just ends up in landfills. In order to mitigate that we created a baseline microwave-assisted methanolysis of the polymer into its monomers bisphenol A and dimethyl carbonate. With methanol alone in the microwave we obtained yields of 98% for a time of 25 minutes at 155 °C. Additionally we found that the transesterification of poly (bisphenol A carbonate) does not undergo acid catalyzed transesterification with methanol as its primary reactant.