Themed collection Plastic Conversion
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Introduction to Plastic Conversion
Guest Editors Ina Vollmer, Haritz Sardon, George W. Huber and Zhibo Li introduce the Catalysis Science & Technology and Polymer Chemistry cross-journal themed collection on plastic conversion.
Polym. Chem., 2023,14, 3054-3056
https://doi.org/10.1039/D3PY90069J
Introduction to Plastic Conversion
Guest Editors Ina Vollmer, Haritz Sardon, George W. Huber and Zhibo Li introduce the Catalysis Science & Technology and Polymer Chemistry cross-journal themed collection on plastic conversion.
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2023,13, 3737-3739
https://doi.org/10.1039/D3CY90036C
From plastic waste to new materials for energy storage
A perspective on using plastic waste as an alternative feedstock for the energy storage sector through upcycling. Materials for electrodes, electrolytes or binders could be obtained from both advanced combustion and depolymerization methods.
Polym. Chem., 2022,13, 4222-4229
https://doi.org/10.1039/D2PY00592A
Critical issues for the deployment of plastic waste pyrolysis
This review is focused on a number of issues that are essential for the industrial development of plastic waste pyrolysis technologies, including the role of catalysts, dehalogenation treatments, co-pyrolysis and process modelling and assessment.
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2023,13, 5799-5820
https://doi.org/10.1039/D3CY00445G
A systematic review on plastic waste conversion for a circular economy: recent trends and emerging technologies
Our biosphere has been adversely affected by plastic waste pollution, especially non-biodegradables in landfills, which induces hazardous chemical leaching and toxic gas emissions on burning into the atmosphere.
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2023,13, 2291-2302
https://doi.org/10.1039/D2CY02066A
Catalytic hydroconversion processes for upcycling plastic waste to fuels and chemicals
This review provides an overview of catalytic hydroconversion processes including hydrocracking, hydrogenolysis and hydrodeoxygenation for upcycling of plastic wastes into fuels and valuable chemicals.
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2023,13, 1258-1280
https://doi.org/10.1039/D2CY01886A
From vanillin to biobased aromatic polymers
This review highlights the recent advances and synthetic routes for the development of different vanillin-based polymers, including thermosets, thermoplastics, and covalent adaptable networks (CANs), and their properties.
Polym. Chem., 2023,14, 4255-4274
https://doi.org/10.1039/D3PY00767G
The advent of recyclable CO2-based polycarbonates
Here we describe the main synthetic approaches for the production of CO2-based polycarbonates and their emerging end-of-life scenarios by chemical re-/up-cycling.
Polym. Chem., 2023,14, 1164-1183
https://doi.org/10.1039/D2PY01258H
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Upcycling of BPA-PC into trimethylene carbonate by solvent assisted organocatalysed depolymerisation
This study describes the solvent-assisted organocatalysed depolymerisation of BPA-PC at low temperature for the selective formation of trimethylene carbonate. The key role of 1-methylimidazole as solvent and imidazole as catalyst is investigated.
Polym. Chem., 2023,14, 2299-2307
https://doi.org/10.1039/D3PY00441D
Naphthalene engineering of chemically recyclable polyesters with enhanced thermal and mechanical properties
Monomer design strategy via functional substitution served as a powerful tool to improve chemical recyclability of the resulting polymers and fine-tune their thermal and mechanical properties.
Polym. Chem., 2023,14, 2027-2033
https://doi.org/10.1039/D3PY00275F
Photo-responsive lignin fragment-based polymers as switchable adhesives
A photo-reversible and reusable polymer adhesive was designed and synthesized from bio-resources. Six unique monomers were evaluated via structure–property analysis, and the best polymer adhesive performance was optimized using statistical methods.
Polym. Chem., 2023,14, 913-924
https://doi.org/10.1039/D2PY01474B
Selective deoxygenation of polar polymers using metal supported on TiO2 nanotubes
A catalytic strategy is presented for the selective conversion of OH groups in polyols, such as EVOH, while preserving the carbon backbone with applications for the recycling and compatibilization of multilayered polymer films.
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2024,14, 4622-4630
https://doi.org/10.1039/D4CY00404C
Chemical recycling of CO2-based polycarbonates to sulfur-containing polymers
This work provides a “polymer A to polymer B” strategy for the upcycling of CO2-based poly(ether)carbonates to sulfur-containing polymers.
Polym. Chem., 2023,14, 5253-5259
https://doi.org/10.1039/D3PY00802A
Efficient synthesis of camphor-based polycarbonates: a direct route to recyclable polymers
A commercially available magnesium catalyst is active as a polymerization and depolymerization catalyst, allowing access to bio-based polycarbonates and their recycling by methanolysis.
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2023,13, 3910-3915
https://doi.org/10.1039/D3CY00423F
Solvent-induced competing processes in polycarbonate degradation: depolymerization, chain scission, and branching/crosslinking
Catalyzed by copper sulfide nanoparticles (CuS NPs), polycarbonate (PC) degradation exhibits different degradation behaviors in varying solvents, showing competitive processes of chain scission, branching, and crosslinking.
Polym. Chem., 2023,14, 1915-1922
https://doi.org/10.1039/D2PY01572B
Thermo-responsive polymer catalysts for polyester recycling processes: switching from homogeneous catalysis to heterogeneous separations
The use of thermo-responsive polymers in switchable catalysts enables the efficient and homogeneous chemical recycling of post-consumer poly(ethylene terephthalate) and the heterogeneous separation of catalyst in a single system.
Polym. Chem., 2023,14, 1893-1904
https://doi.org/10.1039/D2PY01520J
Alkali metal carbonate catalyzed copolymerization of anhydrides and epoxides: a simple, efficient and versatile approach to well-defined alternating polyesters
Readily available and economical alkali metal carbonates have been utilized to catalyze the ROAC of PA and various epoxides to afford polyesters with perfectly alternating sequence distribution, controlled molar masses, and moderate dispersity.
Polym. Chem., 2023,14, 1630-1638
https://doi.org/10.1039/D2PY01507B
Bio-based upcycling of poly(ethylene terephthalate) waste to UV-curable polyurethane acrylate
A strategy for upcycling poly(ethylene terephthalate) into a high-value UV-curable polyurethane acrylate coating using bio-based cardanol diol as a glycolysis agent.
Polym. Chem., 2023,14, 1110-1116
https://doi.org/10.1039/D2PY01506D
An efficient cyclodepolymerization route for the chemical recycling of poly(ethylene adipate)
We present here a green cyclodepolymerization route for the chemical recycling of poly(ethylene adipate) to its cyclic oligomers based on ring–chain equilibria in solution.
Polym. Chem., 2023,14, 1019-1026
https://doi.org/10.1039/D2PY01613C
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Model reactions for the evaluation of poly- and multifunctional molecules as potential interfacial agents for the compatibilization of polyethylene/poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) blends
Upcycling of plastic waste is approached by designing multifunctional molecules for reactive compatibilization investigations of a model polymer blend, here polyethylene (PE) and poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) (EVOH).
Polym. Chem., 2023,14, 934-942
https://doi.org/10.1039/D2PY01495E
Leveraging the monomer structure for high-performance chemically recyclable semiaromatic polyesters
Monomer design via functionalization serves as a promising strategy towards the development of inexpensive and high-performance chemically recyclable polymers.
Polym. Chem., 2023,14, 747-753
https://doi.org/10.1039/D2PY01491B
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Exploiting retro oxa-Michael chemistry in polymers
The dynamic nature of oxa-Michael derived bonds in polymers is studied in this work. Brønsted base catalysis allows for reprocessing polymer networks at temperatures around 140 °C.
Polym. Chem., 2023,14, 651-661
https://doi.org/10.1039/D2PY01345B
From plastic to elastomers: introducing reversible copper–thioether coordination in CO2-based polycarbonate
From plastic to functional elastomer by constructing Cu–S dynamic reversible bonds in CO2-based polycarbonate.
Polym. Chem., 2023,14, 152-160
https://doi.org/10.1039/D2PY01002J
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Lewis acid Sn-Beta catalysts for the cycloaddition of isoprene and methyl acrylate: a greener route to bio-derived monomers
Framework-Sn sites in Sn-Beta zeolites provide the required Lewis acidity to selectively catalyze the Diels–Alder cycloaddition between methyl acrylate and isoprene, affording a precursor to bio-terephthalic acid.
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2022,12, 7439-7447
https://doi.org/10.1039/D2CY01337A
Diverse chemically recyclable polymers obtained by cationic vinyl and ring-opening polymerizations of the cyclic ketene acetal ester “dehydroaspirin”
Chemically recyclable polymers composed of carbon and/or ester backbones were prepared by vinyl and ring-opening polymerizations of a cyclic ketene acetal ester.
Polym. Chem., 2022,13, 6484-6491
https://doi.org/10.1039/D2PY01181F
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Towards degradable polyethylene: end-functionalised polyethylene (PE-X) and PE-I/LDPE blends from iron-catalysed chain growth of ZnEt2 with ethylene
The use of iron-catalysed chain growth of ZnEt2 enables the synthesis of end-functionalised polyethylenes such as PE-I, which can be blended homogeneously into LDPE to affect the polymer degradability.
Polym. Chem., 2022,13, 6377-6385
https://doi.org/10.1039/D2PY01123A
Closed-loop chemical recycling of poly(ε-caprolactone) by tuning reaction parameters
The first ε-CL polymerization/PCL depolymerization closed-loop chemical recycling process was developed under the catalysis of Mg(HMDS)2.
Polym. Chem., 2022,13, 5897-5904
https://doi.org/10.1039/D2PY00953F
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Homoleptic phenoxy-imine pyridine zinc complexes: efficient catalysts for solvent free synthesis and chemical degradation of polyesters
Robust homoleptic zinc catalysts offer new opportunities for recycling polyesters such as poly(lactic acid) and poly(ethylene terephthalate) to obtain platform molecules in a plastics circular economy approach.
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2022,12, 6142-6154
https://doi.org/10.1039/D2CY01092E
Complete utilization of waste lignin: preparation of lignin-derived carbon supports and conversion of lignin-derived guaiacol to nylon precursors
A new catalytic process was developed to produce raw materials for nylon production utilizing 100% of waste lignin emitted from industrial processes.
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2022,12, 5021-5031
https://doi.org/10.1039/D2CY00522K
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Recycling and valorization of LDPE: direct transformation into highly ordered doped-carbon materials and their application as electro-catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction
A transformation of LDPE in highly ordered doped-carbon materials by a simple one-step pyrolysis in presence of transition metal precursors is proposed. The graphitization, metal dispersion and CNFs presence are key factors for the high ORR performance.
Catal. Sci. Technol., 2022,12, 1187-1201
https://doi.org/10.1039/D1CY02082J
About this collection
The Polymer Chemistry and Catalysis Science & Technology cross-journal collection on ‘Plastic Conversion’ aims to highlight research that makes use of catalysis to optimise plastic recycling and addresses getting the most value out of plastic waste. Guest edited by George Huber (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA), Zhibo Li (Qingdao University of Science and Technology, China), Haritz Sardon (University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Spain) and Ina Vollmer (Utrecht University, the Netherlands), this special collection recognizes that management of plastic wastes relies on research conducted at the intersection of polymer chemistry and catalysis.
We hope this collection inspires and informs of the latest research on this important topic.
If you are interested in this collection, why not read this related collection across Materials Horizons, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B and C on ‘Polymer Upcycling’. This aims to explore the latest developments in materials characterization, polymer design and synthesis, physical chemistry and molecular understanding of plastic decomposition and transformation that contribute to a broad knowledge base for upcycling waste plastics.