Turning Waste Into Treasure: CO2 Can Also Be Made Into Recyclable Plastics!

According to reports, chemists at the University of Li è ge in Belgium have developed a new polyurethane production technology that can use carbon dioxide to produce new types of plastic that are easy to recycle. This plastic is produced using more sustainable materials and has similar properties to traditional petroleum based plastics.

It is said that this new technology is becoming a potential solution for developing sustainable plastics with a wide range of performance, which can easily meet the needs of most of our daily applications. The latest research results have been recently published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Commercial plastics have transformed global industry. Whether in buildings, clothing, vehicles, or food packaging, these plastics are ubiquitous in our daily lives. Moreover, they are difficult to recycle. This not only leads to the depletion of fossil resources used to manufacture them, but also leads to their long-term accumulation in nature and the ocean.

Therefore, our society urgently needs to quickly design and manufacture "easily recyclable" plastics. Against this backdrop, researchers have developed a new technology for producing easily recyclable polyurethane plastics.

It is understood that the characteristic of this method is the use of carbon dioxide (CO2), another source of pollution in our society, as the raw material for producing the monomers required for these new products. The structure of monomers can be easily modified, allowing for the production of plastics with various properties, from highly ductile elastomers (such as silicone) to more rigid materials (such as polystyrene).

The researchers explained that the chemical structure of these plastics is similar to a three-dimensional network, rather than a long linear chain. This structure is usually similar to thermosetting plastics that are difficult to recycle, making them more corrosion-resistant than plastics made from long molecular chains.

However, the newly created polyurethane has new "dynamic" chemical bonds, which means that although they have thermosetting structures, they can be reshaped through chemical bond exchange under relatively mild reaction conditions.

Researchers say the biggest advantage of this new technology is its ability to change the performance range while providing multiple methods for recycling materials.

These new plastics can be recycled in various ways, either by heating and reshaping them, or by mixing different types of plastics to create hybrid materials with new properties, or by decomposing them into their constituent monomers, which is an ideal choice for eliminating additives such as dyes or recycling composite materials, "they added.

Finally, with a focus on the industrialization of future CO2 appreciation, this study indicates that CO2 can be directly utilized as a chemical resource.

They said, 'Our materials have achieved similar performance to some traditional petroleum source plastics, which is very impressive.' This new technology is becoming a potential solution for developing sustainable plastics with a wide range of performance, which can easily meet the needs of most of our daily applications.

(The content and picture are referenced from the China-Plast Online Website)