POLYMER RECYCLING BY SELECTIVE DISSOLUTION

摘要

A method for separating polymers from a physically commingled solid mixture containing a plurality of polymers comprises dissolving a first one of the polymers in a solvent at a first lower temperature to form a first preferably single phase solution and a remaining solid component. The solid component contains additional polymers which are not soluable to the solvent at the first temperature but which may be soluble at higher temperatures. The method includes subsequently heating the solvent to dissolve additional polymer from the solid component to form subsequent solutions. The polymers are then separated from their respective solution either using flash evaporation techniques when more than one polymer has been dissolved at a single temperature, or conventional techniques for extracting a polymer from a solvent in a solution.