Plastic from biomass

A team of researchers from the Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation (CCEI), University of Delaware, has developed a process for turning biomass into p-hexylene, a chemical substance used in the production of PET and other plastic materials.
The new process involves the use of a zeolite-based catalyst specifically developed to transform the biomass glucose into p-hexylene in a three-step reaction inside a high-temperature reactor. According to the researchers, although the process is already extremely economical, allowing the chemical to be produced with a yield of 75%, the further developments it is set to undergo will make it even more efficient and cost-effective.