EFFICIENCY OF AN IONIC LIQUID AS CATALYST FOR DEGRADATION OF WASTE NYLON-6 AND ITS OPTIMIZATION STUDY

Abstract

With the increasing rate of production and usage ofnylon-6, the environmental effect of plastics is currently a global concern. The widespread and careless use and disposal of these non-biodegradable materials has severely disrupted and harmed the environment and its biodiversity. To overcome these problems, ionic liquid has shown the efficiency as catalyst for the hydrolysis of waste nylon-6 into Nbenzoyl-Ɛ-caprolactam. Ionic liquids [emim]BF4, [bmim]BF4, and [bmim]PF6 has successfully hydrolyzed the waste nylon-6 at different extent. Maximum yield, 4.38g of desired monomer, was obtained when hydrolysis was carried in the presence of .9 g (.1mol) of [emim]BF4 as a catalyst at 120 0C for five hours. Hydrolysis in the presence of IL [emim]BF4 as a catalyst showed the maximum breakdown of nylon-6 in a shorter time than ILs [bmim]BF4 and [bmim]PF6. The hydrophilic nature of IL [emim]BF4 and [bmim]BF4 has shown an efficient tendency to catalyze the hydrolysis of nylon-6, while the hydrophobic nature of [bmim]PF6 has the least tendency to catalyze the hydrolysis of nylon-6. The product was characterized by FT-IR, 1H, and 13C NMR techniques