Project R-14004

Designing circular high-performance condensation polymers from reuitilization of plastic waste and novel biobased building blocks (HiPerCoRe) (Research)

The world is facing a plastic pollution crisis, which is projected to worsen substantially in a "business-as-usual" scenario. The performance plastics landscape therefore demands a revolutionary approach to new materials design and manufacturing. Technological outlets for chemically repurposing plastic waste are limited and recycling routes for complex architectures are totally missing. HiperCORE will uncover radical new avenues for synthesizing novel polymers and deconstructing them afterward, filling this critical technology gap. I will utilize polyester waste in condensation processes, owing to both the remarkable properties and the massive available feedstocks from waste streams. Furthermore, I will develop various novel biobased feedstocks with diverse functionality for targeting high performance properties and carrying functional groups amenable to direct transesterification with existing (recycled) polyester backbones. Using an unprecedented single-step reaction between the new biobased building blocks and plastic waste streams will enable streamlined access to new polymer constructs with an astounding array of properties. Full circularity is a design criterion, which will be demonstrated as a unifying feature of the project. The major outcomes will be a diverse set of novel bio-based building blocks optimized for condensation polymerizations; a wide-ranging blueprint for diversifying plastic [polyester] waste via upcycling to high performance materials; an unprecedented demonstration of recyclability for copolyesters with molecular complexity

01 April 2023 - 31 March 2027