CO2 may soon be used as raw material for plastics, chemical industry

Materials manufacturer Covestro, in collaboration with various industry and research partners, is exploring the potentials of carbon dioxide (CO2) as a chemical building block through a three-year research project called “Dream Resource”.

With funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the project looks into the different ways of how CO2 can also be used as a component in insulating foam and other products of the plastics industry.

Dream Resource’s project coordinator and head of catalysis research at Covestro, Dr. Christoph  Gürtler, said they are now taking the next step in the process to establish carbon dioxide as a raw material for the plastics and chemical industry.

“With CO2 as a carbon source, we can increasingly dispense with traditional, fossil sources such as petroleum. After successfully incorporating it in a key precursor to flexible foam, we are now tackling the next challenge,” he added.

They will develop a new process to produce plastic components with a content of at least 20% CO2. The remainder would come from the petroleum derivative ethylene oxide (EO), which is very difficult to handle. It has already been demonstrated through laboratory tests that it is possible to react CO2 with EO. “However, technical implementation still requires a lot of research,” explained Gürtler.

Carbon dioxide and ethylene oxide could be used, for example, to make the building blocks (polyols) for rigid polyurethane foam, a common insulating material in buildings and refrigeration systems. Another possibility is molded foam for automobile seats. CO2-EO compounds could also feasibly be used to produce additives.

Academic members of the Dream Resource project include RWTH Aachen University and Berlin University of Technology. The consortium further includes the companies PSS Polymer Standards Service, Puren and BYK Additives & Instruments.

Covestro and its partners have already developed the technology required to use CO2 in elastomers through the Production Dreams project, which has been running for some time. These elastomers are solid but moldable plastics used in articles such as hoses and seals.

Another process that is about producing polyols for flexible polyurethane foam based on CO2 and the reactant propylene oxide is already in the implementation stage. Covestro commissioned a new production plant for this technology at its Dormagen site, outside Cologne, Germany in June.

The new foams are initially intended for use in mattresses and upholstered furniture. The first products are scheduled for market launch in the near future.