DEVELOPMENT OF AN AUTOMATED MICROWAVE REACTOR TO SYNTHESIZE CYCLIC CARBONATES TO PRODUCE NON-ISOCYANATE POLYURETHANES (NIPU): AN ANALYSIS OF REACTION YIELDS

Microwave radiation heating presents advantages over conventional chemical synthesis methods, such as higher reaction speed, control, and selectivity during the process. This work presents the automation of a microwave reactor for synthesizing cyclic carbonates to produce non-isocyanate polyurethanes (NIPU), with temperature, pressure, and gasification control through an Arduino platform. The process allowed the fixation of CO2, a greenhouse gas, producing green polymers with higher added value. The performance and functionality tests of the reactor were analyzed based on the reaction yields of cyclic carbonates (CC) prepared from the reaction between CO2 and commercial BADGE epoxy resins and TBAB and LiBr catalysts. The cyclic carbonate yield was calculated from the deconvolution of FTIR spectra. The developed system allowed effective control of the reaction parameters. The reactor promoted vigorous stirring of CO2, promoting high liquid-gas interaction between the reagents in the reaction medium, resulting in large incorporation of CO2 into the epoxy resin, with rapid and homogeneous heating, optimizing the process, reducing synthesis time and high yield (87.9%) of cycloaddition using the TBAB catalyst.