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Master's degree final project of Paula Mercado: ‘Recovery of plastic waste. Chemical recycling of fishing nets catalysed by deep eutectic solvents’

  • Marketing and Communication Service
  • Materials Technology and Sustainability (MATS)
  • October 20th, 2025
Paula Mercado
Paula Mercado

Paula Mercado has presented her Master’s degree final project (TFM) of Chemical Engineering in the ETSE-UV , ‘Recovery of plastic waste. Chemical recycling of fishing nets catalysed by deep eutectic solvents’, directed by Amparo Cháfer Ortega and Camila Arango.

The aim was to develop a process of depolymerisation of polyamide fishing nets using six deep eutectic solvents, to recover marine waste through the production of monomers of industrial interest.

Outstanding results:

The DES system, based on choline and diethanolamine (ChCl:DEA) reached a 98% conversion, showing a high efficacy in the degradation of PA6 The spectroscopic analysis confirmed selective procurement of ε-caprolactam as main product and validate its efficacy in purification stages. These results reveal the potential of DES as a sustainable alternative to chemical recycling of technical plastics, contributing to circular economy.