Polycotton waste textile recycling by sequential hydrolysis and glycolysis
Abstract As a result of the current high throughput of the fast fashion collections and the concomitant decrease in product lifetime, we are facing enormous amounts of textile waste. Since textiles are often a blend of multiple fibers (predominantly cotton and polyester) and contain various differen...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-55935-6 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832571531060838400 |
|---|---|
| author | Nienke Leenders Rijk M. Moerbeek Matthijs J. Puijk Robbert J. A. Bronkhorst Jorge Bueno Morón Gerard P. M. van Klink Gert-Jan M. Gruter |
| author_facet | Nienke Leenders Rijk M. Moerbeek Matthijs J. Puijk Robbert J. A. Bronkhorst Jorge Bueno Morón Gerard P. M. van Klink Gert-Jan M. Gruter |
| author_sort | Nienke Leenders |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract As a result of the current high throughput of the fast fashion collections and the concomitant decrease in product lifetime, we are facing enormous amounts of textile waste. Since textiles are often a blend of multiple fibers (predominantly cotton and polyester) and contain various different components, proper waste management and recycling are challenging. Here, we describe a high-yield process for the sequential chemical recycling of cotton and polyester from mixed waste textiles. The utilization of 43 wt% hydrochloric acid for the acid hydrolysis of polycotton (44/56 cotton/polyester, room temperature, 24 h) results in a 75% molar glucose yield from the cotton fraction, whereafter the hydrolysate solution is easily separated from the solid polyester residue. The reaction is scalable, as similar results are obtained for experiments performed at 1 mL, 0.1, and 1.0 L and even in a 230 L pilot plant reactor, where mixed postconsumer polycotton waste textile is successfully recycled. The residual polyester is successfully converted via glycolysis to bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate in 78% isolated yield (>98% purity). |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-93eaed5420414f0bb51e60df588fa794 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-93eaed5420414f0bb51e60df588fa7942025-02-02T12:31:32ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-01-011611810.1038/s41467-025-55935-6Polycotton waste textile recycling by sequential hydrolysis and glycolysisNienke Leenders0Rijk M. Moerbeek1Matthijs J. Puijk2Robbert J. A. Bronkhorst3Jorge Bueno Morón4Gerard P. M. van Klink5Gert-Jan M. Gruter6Van ’t Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of AmsterdamFaculty of Science and Technology, Hogeschool LeidenAvantium Support BVAvantium Support BVAvantium Support BVVan ’t Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of AmsterdamVan ’t Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of AmsterdamAbstract As a result of the current high throughput of the fast fashion collections and the concomitant decrease in product lifetime, we are facing enormous amounts of textile waste. Since textiles are often a blend of multiple fibers (predominantly cotton and polyester) and contain various different components, proper waste management and recycling are challenging. Here, we describe a high-yield process for the sequential chemical recycling of cotton and polyester from mixed waste textiles. The utilization of 43 wt% hydrochloric acid for the acid hydrolysis of polycotton (44/56 cotton/polyester, room temperature, 24 h) results in a 75% molar glucose yield from the cotton fraction, whereafter the hydrolysate solution is easily separated from the solid polyester residue. The reaction is scalable, as similar results are obtained for experiments performed at 1 mL, 0.1, and 1.0 L and even in a 230 L pilot plant reactor, where mixed postconsumer polycotton waste textile is successfully recycled. The residual polyester is successfully converted via glycolysis to bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate in 78% isolated yield (>98% purity).https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-55935-6 |
| spellingShingle | Nienke Leenders Rijk M. Moerbeek Matthijs J. Puijk Robbert J. A. Bronkhorst Jorge Bueno Morón Gerard P. M. van Klink Gert-Jan M. Gruter Polycotton waste textile recycling by sequential hydrolysis and glycolysis Nature Communications |
| title | Polycotton waste textile recycling by sequential hydrolysis and glycolysis |
| title_full | Polycotton waste textile recycling by sequential hydrolysis and glycolysis |
| title_fullStr | Polycotton waste textile recycling by sequential hydrolysis and glycolysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Polycotton waste textile recycling by sequential hydrolysis and glycolysis |
| title_short | Polycotton waste textile recycling by sequential hydrolysis and glycolysis |
| title_sort | polycotton waste textile recycling by sequential hydrolysis and glycolysis |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-55935-6 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nienkeleenders polycottonwastetextilerecyclingbysequentialhydrolysisandglycolysis AT rijkmmoerbeek polycottonwastetextilerecyclingbysequentialhydrolysisandglycolysis AT matthijsjpuijk polycottonwastetextilerecyclingbysequentialhydrolysisandglycolysis AT robbertjabronkhorst polycottonwastetextilerecyclingbysequentialhydrolysisandglycolysis AT jorgebuenomoron polycottonwastetextilerecyclingbysequentialhydrolysisandglycolysis AT gerardpmvanklink polycottonwastetextilerecyclingbysequentialhydrolysisandglycolysis AT gertjanmgruter polycottonwastetextilerecyclingbysequentialhydrolysisandglycolysis |