The plastics of the future can be recycled a countless number of times
New research shows how a class of plastics widely used in the aerospace and microelectronics industries can be chemically broken down into their most basic components and be reformed back into the same material countless times.
The study has been published in the Nature Chemistry magazine, by a group of researchers from the Univerity of Colorado Boulder. They say that this is an important step in the development of repairable and fully recyclable polymers, a material that is particularly difficult to recycle, as it is designed to maintain its shape and integrity under extreme heat and other adverse conditions.
The study reports how this type of plastic can be broken down and remoulded in perpetuity, without losing its desired physical properties. Their results suggest that a review of the chemical structures of other plastic materials could lead to similar discoveries. on how to break and completely rebuild their chemical bonds, enabling the circular production of more plastic materials in our daily lives.
During the 20th century, plastics became widely adapted to almost all industries and parts of life as they are extremely convenient, functional and cheap. But half a century later, after exponential demand and production, plastics pose a big problem to the health of the planet and the people. Recycling, therefore, is key to reducing plastic pollution and fossil fuel emissions. However, they are now a huge problem for the health of the planet and people.
Recycling is therefore the key to reducing plastic pollution and fossil fuel emissions. Conventional recycling methods mechanically break down the powdered polymers, burn them or use bacterial enzymes to dissolve them. The aim is to end up with smaller pieces that can be used for something else.
Think of shoes made from recycled tyres or clothes made from recycled water bottles. With this new research, what they have achieved is to reverse a new chemical method and discover that they can both break and form new chemical bonds in a particularly high-performance polymer.
They do this by splitting the polymer into single monomers, its molecules, a concept of reversible or dynamic chemistry. What is most remarkable about this latest method is that it has not only created a new kind of polymeric material that is easy to build, disassemble and rebuild over and over again but the method can be applied to existing polymers, especially those that are difficult to recycle.
These new chemical methods are also ready for commercialisation and can be connected to current industrial production.
References:
Simpkins, K., 2022. Plastics of the future will live many past lives, thanks to chemical recycling. [online] CU Boulder Today. Available at: <https://www.colorado.edu/today/2022/09/26/plastics-future-will-live-many-past-lives-thanks-chemical-recycling> [Accessed 29 September 2022].
europapress.es. 2022. Una clase de plásticos podrá reciclarse innumerables veces. [online] Available at: <https://www.europapress.es/ciencia/laboratorio/noticia-clase-plasticos-podra-reciclarse-innumerables-veces-20220926174027.html> [Accessed 29 September 2022].
