Recently, a research group led by Prof Xianglin Hou and Prof Tiansheng Deng from the Institute of Coal Chemistry (ICC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), presented a green and efficient aqueous degradation system, enabling firstly the directed depolymerization of melamine formaldehyde resin (MF) into monomer melamine (melamine yield exceeding 95%, purity of 99.5%). MF resin was directly converted into monomer melamine by the synergistic action of the catalyst and water, and it was determined that the sp³C-sp³N bond in MF resin was selectively disconnected, providing direct evidence for exploring the chemical degradation pathway of MF resin.

This work entitled “Efficient decomposition of a melamine–formaldehyde foam into melamine via selective disconnection of bonds” was published in the Green Chemistry on 4th November 2024.

The precise disconnection of one type of chemical bond in polymers realizes high-yield recovery of valuable chemicals. In this study, researchers demonstrate an economical and eco-friendly strategy to selectively cleave the specific sp³C–sp³N bond of a thermoset melamine–formaldehyde foam, by which valuable melamine of 99.5% purity was obtained with a yield of 95.3%.

“Melamine is one of the monomers in the synthesis of MF resin, which has a very wide range of applications, but the production conditions are relatively harsh, and the synthesis of MF resin is also one of the main application ways. Chemical depolymerization of MF resin to prepare melamine is of great significance. It is not only an efficient way to produce melamine, but also a closed-loop recycling of MF resin waste”, said by Prof Tiansheng Deng.

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.21774139), the autonomous research project of SKLCC (Grant No.: 2024BWZ007), and Fundamental Research Program of Shanxi Province (No.202303021211257 and No. 202303021212375)

Figure 1. MFF resin selectively broken sp³C–sp³N bond to produce melamine

About the authors:

Tiansheng Deng, professor, The State Key laboratory of Coal Conversion (SKLCC), Institute of Coal Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences;

Xianglin Hou, professor, The State Key laboratory of Coal Conversion (SKLCC), Institute of Coal Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences;

Contact: Tiansheng Deng:18835114133; Xianglin Hou:13934602415

Email: Tiansheng Deng: dts117@sxicc.ac.cn; Xianglin Hou: houxl@sxicc.ac.cn