Closing the carbon cycle: Using Carbon Dioxide (CO2) as Chemical Feedstock
Afzal Subhani,1 Walter Leitner,2 Thomas E. Müller1*
1
CAT Catalytic Center, RWTH Aachen University, Worringerweg 2, 52074 Aachen, Germany
2
Lehrstuhl für Technische Chemie und Petrolchemie, ITMC, RWTH Aachen University,
Worringerweg 1, 52074 Aachen, Germany
The use of CO2 as raw material for the production of chemicals has attracted enormous attention over
the last years [1]. Besides employing CO2 in the production of chemical intermediates and fuels, the
use of CO2 for the synthesis of polymers seems particularly interesting as CO2 is fixated for an
extended time during the use of the polymeric materials. In manufacturing high-performance
polyurethanes, the beneficial ecobalance [2] makes CO2-based polyethercarbonate polyols highly
interesting polymer building blocks [3]. The molecular architecture of the polyol, in particular the
CO2-content and the chemical structure, provide substantial advantages to the processing and the
properties of polyurethane materials made from these polyols [3].
[1] M. Peters, B. Köhler, W. Kuckshinrichs, W. Leitner, P. Markewitz and T. E. Müller, ChemSusChem, 9,
1216 (2011); P. Markewitz, W. Kuckshinrichs, W. Leitner, J. Linssen, P. Zapp, R. Bongartz, A. Schreiber and
T. E. Müller, Energy Environ. Sci, 5, 7281 (2012); T. E. Müller, Prepr. Symp.-Am. Chem. Soc. Div. Fuel
Chem. 53(1), 317 (2008). [2] N. van der Assen and A. Bardow, Green Chem. 16, 3272 (2014).
[3] J. Langanke, A. Wolf, J. Hofmann, K. Böhm, M. A. Subhani, T. E. Müller, W. Leitner and C. Gürtler,
Green Chem. 16, 1865 (2014).
Keywords: CO2-Fixation; Ecobalance; CO2-Based polyol; Polyethercarbonate; Polyurethan