Production of nylon - 6 environmental stems

Researchers at the University of Cambridge, UK, have found a method of synthesizing environmental stems to make caprolactam, precursors of nylon-6, from cyclohexanone.

Caprolactam molecule
(Photo: tennoji-h)

Nylon-6 is widely used in industrial applications with increasing demand. However, the two-step process currently used to produce nylon-6 from cyclohexanone must use highly active substances. These substances produce large quantities of waste ammonium sulfate.

Caprolactam is produced in a one-step process, does not use solvents but only uses air as oxidizing agents, ammonia and nanoscale aluminum crystals as catalysts.

These catalysts contain separate acid and redox positions, allowing the conversion of cyclohexanone to caprolactam with an efficiency of up to 78% at 80 ° C easily.

Robert Raja, one of the researchers, said that the open structure of these bipolar solids allows substrates to easily access active sites and products that can easily diffuse away from porous structures. microphone size.

Neville Hargreaves of Crystal Faraday, UK, said it was a real innovation, but it still depended on how to apply it on an industrial scale.