Upcycling waste polystyrene to adipic acid through a hybrid chemical and biological process
Oxidative catalytic depolymerization of polystyrene (PS) can produce benzoic acid, but the annual consumption of benzoic acid is ~40 times lower than PS. For this catalytic oxidation method to be a viable means to manage PS waste, benzoic acid should be converted to higher-volume chemicals. We demonstrate a hybrid chemical and biological process that uses PS as feedstock for production of adipic acid, a high-volume co-monomer for nylon 6,6 via benzoic acid. Mn/Br co-catalyzed autoxidation of PS to benzoic acid proceeds with a yield of up to 94% in a solvent mixture of benzoic acid and water. The PS-derived benzoic acid undergoes bioconversion at near-quantitative yield to muconic acid, which is readily converted to adipic acid through catalytic hydrogenation. Process modeling, techno-economic analysis, and life cycle assessment estimate an adipic acid minimum selling price of $3.18/kg, with a 61% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions relative to production from fossil fuels.
Authors
- N. Meyer
- Clarissa Lincoln
- Joel Miscall (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4513-8703)
- Gregg T. Beckham (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3480-212X)
- Bruno Colling Klein (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3438-253X)
- Davinia Salvachúa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0799-061X)
- Hyeongeon Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8872-8396)
- Stefan J. Haugen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3999-0796)
- Kwangjin An (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5239-0296)
- Hannah Alt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6559-7800)
- Taylor Uekert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7645-9166)
- Christine A. Singer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7791-6389)
- Jason S. DesVeaux (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7926-6327)
- Allison Z. Werner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7147-2863)
- Kelsey J. Ramirez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5114-742X)
- Shannon S. Stahl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9000-7665)
- Mikhail O. Konev (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3913-8528)
- Christopher W. Johnson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2979-4751)
- Hyunjin Moon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9780-419X)
- Young-Saeng C. Avina (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3769-4862)
- Elisabeth C. Van Roijen
Institutions
- National Laboratory of the Rockies (US)
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- Stahl-Zentrum (Germany) (DE)
- Beckham Company (United States) (US)
- Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (KR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-10-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-64561-1
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Polymer crystallization and properties
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.21
Funders
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
- Bioenergy Technologies Office
- Office of Energy Efficiency
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory