Invention Reference Number
With the ever-increasing problem of plastic waste, several avenues to decrease plastic use and manage waste introduced by disposable plastic products have arisen. Because of the highly tunable properties of plastics and polymeric materials, the desire for circularity within the plastic industry has been quickly gaining popularity. Vitrimers, or polymer networks crosslinked with dynamic bonds, are of great interest due to their thermal processibility and chemical recyclability. After use, vitrimer materials can either be thermally upcycled into new materials, or chemically degraded back to starting materials for use in new plastic goods. These properties allow for used vitrimer products to be reintegrated into the plastic cycle and used in new materials with little concessions made. Furthermore, because of their high chemical recyclability, one vitrimer material with a given set of thermal and mechanical properties can be reconstituted with a new crosslinker to fine tune the polymer network to its new application. While some vitrimer materials are being synthesized with new starting materials, converting already existing plastic waste into vitrimer could help both reduce plastic waste and establish plastic circularity within consumer markets.
Contact
To learn more about this technology, email partnerships@ornl.gov or call 865-574-1051.
