Issue 15, 2023

Closed-loop recycling of lignin-based sustainable polymers with an all-hydrocarbon backbone

Abstract

Sustainable polymers from biomass with a nonhydrolytic backbone are highly desirable because they meet performance requirements. However, their inert nature hinders chemical recycling under mild conditions. In this work, we report a series of recyclable lignin-based sustainable polymers with an all-hydrocarbon backbone showing excellent thermal stability (decomposition temperature up to 380 °C) and tunable mechanical properties. These renewable polyolefins from lignin can be depolymerized back to pristine monomers with a quantitative (>90%) recovery rate under gentle heating (50 °C) by using a Grubbs II catalyst within several minutes. These polyolefins are prepared by the ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of cyclooctene with a trans-dioxolane ketal installed at the 5,6-positions and lignin derivatives as pendants. The additional fused ring significantly reduces the ring-strain energy of the cyclooctene monomer to ∼5.0 kcal mol−1, inducing the resulting polymer to be depolymerizable to establish a closed-loop life cycle.

Graphical abstract: Closed-loop recycling of lignin-based sustainable polymers with an all-hydrocarbon backbone

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
18 mai 2023
Accepted
12 jul 2023
First published
13 jul 2023

Green Chem., 2023,25, 5858-5864

Closed-loop recycling of lignin-based sustainable polymers with an all-hydrocarbon backbone

Y. Hu, Q. Ran, S. Wei, C. Wang, Z. Wu, E. Xu, Z. Luo, P. Jia and Y. Sha, Green Chem., 2023, 25, 5858 DOI: 10.1039/D3GC01671D

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements