Research Projects

The objective is to protect the environment from polyethylene (PE) pollution and convert PE into fuel and useful chemicals. This will be achieved through dehydrogenation of PE using pincer type ligands and transition metal complexes under specific experimental conditions. The dehydrogenation process will involve double oxidative addition of C-H bonds on the central metal ion of the catalyst, resulting in the formation of a large number of C=C bonds. The selective dehydrogenation of PE can be controlled by selecting appropriate catalyst design. The newly synthesized C=C bonds will undergo cross olefin metathesis in the presence of ethylene, producing smaller chain olefins with C=C bonds at the terminal position. These small chain unsaturated hydrocarbons can be used as fuel and functionalized into alcohols, amines, and halides using appropriate reagents. The dehydrogenation and cross olefin metathesis process will be refined to generate more product benefits through numerous control reactions, including optimization of catalyst load, temperature, and pressure variations. The identification of the best reaction conditions will lead to the implementation of this process in the industry for larger-scale PE management.