Recovering polychlorinated biphenyls from solution

A method of recovering polychlorinated biphenyls from solution, which comprises:

• mixing and reacting a copolymer with polychlorinated biphenyls in toluene to form a precipitate reaction complex of the copolymer and polychlorinated biphenyls,
• said copolymer prepared from about 60% to about 90% styrene monomer units and about 10% to about 40% glucose monomer units and having about 30% to about 100% of its glucose alcohol groups converted into alkoxides by reaction with sodium;
• and
• separating the precipitated reaction complex from the toluene.

A method of recovering polychlorinated biphenyls from solution, which comprises:

• mixing and reacting a copolymer with polychlorinated biphenyls in non-aqueous solvent to form a reaction complex of the copolymer and polychlorinated biphenyls,
• said copolymer prepared from about 60% to about 99% styrene monomer units and about 1% to about 40% glucose monomer units and having about 30% to about 100% of its alcohol groups converted into alkoxides;
• mixing and reacting p-dichlorobenzene with the reaction complex in solution to crosslink and precipitate reaction complex;
• and
• separating the precipitated reaction complex from the solvent.

A method of recovering polychlorinated biphenyls from solution which comprises:

• mixing and reacting a soluble polymer with polychlorinated biphenyls in non-aqueous solution to form a reaction complex of the soluble polymer and polychlorinated biphenyls,
• said soluble polymer containing functional groups which will interact with polychlorinated biphenyls and having the formula:
• ##STR7## L equals --NR.sub.3.sup.+ OH.sup.-, --NR.sub.3.sup.+ X.sup.-, --OH, --O.sup.- M.sup.+ --N.dbd.C.dbd.O, --N.dbd.C.dbd.S, --COOH, or --COO.sup.- M.sup.+,
• L' equals any member of the group defined by L, provided that for any given polymer, L .noteq. L,
• T equals H, a C.sub.1 -C.sub.18 alkyl group or an alkylaryl group with about 1 to 12 carbons in the alkyl chain,
• R equals C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl group,
• n+y equals about 2 to one million,
• m equals 0 to n, provided that m is selected so that the resulting polymer is suitably soluble in non-aqueous solvent,
• M.sup.+ equals NH.sub.4.sup.+, or an alkali metal ion, and
• X equals Cl, Br, I, or another highly electronegative group;
• mixing and reacting a second polymer with the reaction complex in solution, said second polymer being able to complex with the reaction complex and form a precipitate;
• and separating precipitate from the solution.

A method of recovering polychlorinated biphenyls from solution, which comprises:

• mixing and reacting a hydroxylation agent with polychlorinated biphenyls in non-aqueous solvent to convert the polychlorinated biphenyls into derivatives containing at least one phenoxy or alkylphenoxy functional group;
• mixing and reacting a soluble polymer with said derivatives in the non-aqueous solvent to form a precipitate reaction complex of the soluble polymer and said derivatives,
• said soluble polymer containing functional groups which will interact with the phenoxy or alkylphenoxy groups of said derivatives,
• said functional groups having the formulae:
• ##STR8## separating precipitate from the solvent.