Demonstrates effective dechlorination of PVC using plasticizers in electrolysis, suggesting a viable recycling method.
Despite its ubiquity, scalable recycling of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) remains elusive. One challenge is that the waste streams can be contaminated with plasticizers. Herein, we present a strategy that repurposes these plasticizers as redox mediators in a controlled-voltage electrolysis to dechlorinate PVC. Five common plasticizers were evaluated as redox mediators. In addition, using voltage limits via a galvanostatic cycling with potential limitation protocol attenuated deleterious mediator decomposition. Among the plasticizers screened, trioctyl trimellitate enabled up to 97% dechlorination of PVC across a range of PVC samples, including commercial-grade rigid pipe and flexible tubing, and scales (up to 0.5 g), illustrating broad applicability. This method achieves near-quantitative PVC dechlorination in a simple, one-pot transformation while simultaneously utilizing the liberated chloride, offering a promising solution for transforming waste PVC into recycled products.
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Jha et al. (2026) studied this question.
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