Chemically recyclable polyolefin-like multiblock polymers

Zhao, Yucheng; Rettner, Emma M.; Harry, Katherine L.; Hu, Zhitao; Miscall, Joel; Rorrer, Nicholas A.; Miyake, Garret M.

doi:10.1126/science.adh3353

Chemically recyclable polyolefin-like multiblock polymers

Journal Article · Thu Oct 19 00:00:00 EDT 2023 · Science

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adh3353· OSTI ID:2205316

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Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO (United States)
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); BOTTLE Consortium, Golden, Co (United States)

Polyolefins are the most important and largest volume plastics produced. Unfortunately, the enormous use of plastics and lack of effective disposal or recycling options have created a plastic waste catastrophe. Here in this work, we report an approach to create chemically recyclable polyolefin-like materials with diverse mechanical properties through the construction of multiblock polymers from hard and soft oligomeric building blocks synthesized with ruthenium-mediated ring-opening metathesis polymerization of cyclooctenes. The multiblock polymers exhibit broad mechanical properties, spanning elastomers to plastomers to thermoplastics, while integrating a high melting transition temperature (T_m) and low glass transition temperature (T_g), making them suitable for use across diverse applications (T_m as high as 128°C and T_g as low as –60°C). After use, the different plastics can be combined and efficiently deconstructed back to the fundamental hard and soft building blocks for separation and repolymerization to realize a closed-loop recycling process.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Institutes of Health (NIH); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308; SC0022290

OSTI ID:: 2205316

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA--2800-85476; MainId:86249; UUID:c2d1f986-7808-4544-bf0f-f7907ecce022; MainAdminID:71020

Journal Information:: Science, Journal Name: Science Journal Issue: 6668 Vol. 382; ISSN 0036-8075

Publisher:: AAASCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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