Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Matthew Lowe, Dr Matt HopkinsonORCiD, Dr Roly ArmstrongORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a highly versatile material that has found widespread application owing to its exceptionally high chemical resistance and thermal stability. However, these properties mean that PTFE disposal is an energy intensive process, producing fluorinated materials which pose serious concerns regarding toxicity and environmental persistence. Herein we report a straightforward mechanochemical approach for the reductive defluorination of PTFE generating an environmentally benign mixture of elemental carbon and sodium fluoride. The process employs cheap and readily available chunks of sodium metal, proceeding rapidly at room temperature, in the absence of any organic solvent to form sodium fluoride (NaF) in 98% yield. The fluoride generated in the process can be directly upcycled into fine chemicals through in situ mechanochemical fluorination reactions, delivering valuable sulfonyl fluoride and acyl fluoride products in excellent yields.
Author(s): Lowe ME, Gallant BM, Davison N, Hopkinson MN, Kubicki DJ, Lu E, Armstrong RJ
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of the American Chemical Society
Year: 2025
Volume: 147
Issue: 44
Pages: 40895–40899
Print publication date: 05/11/2025
Online publication date: 21/10/2025
Acceptance date: 01/10/2025
Date deposited: 30/10/2025
ISSN (print): 0002-7863
ISSN (electronic): 1520-5126
Publisher: American Chemical Society
URL: https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5c14052
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5c14052
Data Access Statement: The Supporting Information is available free of charge at https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.5c14052.
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric
