Adding value to polystyrene waste by chemically transforming it into sulfonated polystyrene

ABSTRACT Polystyrene (PS), one of the most used polymers in everyday life, has a low recycling rate due to its inexpensive virgin resin. In order to make polystyrene waste (WPS) recycling advantageous, it is possible to change it chemically, introducing heteroatoms in the polymer chain thus transforming the waste into a material with more added value. In this work, sulfonation reactions of polystyrene waste (disposable cups and expanded polystyrene -EPS) with different degrees of sulfonation were carried out by homogeneous sulfonation using acetylsulfate as a sulfonating agent, originating pol...