Authors:

Tejaswini Haraniya

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Inefficient and costly recycling strategies of current commercial plastics are the cause of a growing environmental concern surrounding plastic waste. The lack of circular recycling strategies has led to the underutilization of the chemical potential of single-use plastics. Therefore, it is imperative that polymer recycling methods are scalable and efficient in the selective cleavage of carbon-carbon bonds between monomers. Here, we report the scalable free radical synthesis of muconate ester-based polymers. The structure of the polymer allows it to depolymerize with up to 70% yield at an accessible temperature of 250 °C. The synthesized polymers are easily processable in chloroform without elevated temperatures. Modifying the side chains of the polymer as well as synthesizing copolymers, allows for easy tuning of mechanical properties. The absence of catalysts and a short depolymerization time of around 30 minutes makes the synthesis and recycling of the polymers cost-effective, while the simple procedure makes the process scalable. By using an alternative recycling strategy, our findings pave the way for the use of sustainable polymers across a variety of applications ranging from 3-D printing to packaging.

Source:

Purdue University / 2023

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Co-authors:

Tejaswini Haraniya