Institute for Cooperative Upcycling of Plastics Research Highlights

Design principles for polyethylene deconstruction

Scientists established mechanistic role of metal oxide support on the catalytic deconstruction of polyolefins under H2.

Reactive separations improve polymer upcycling

Reactive separation provides a complementary strategy to catalyst design to achieve selective conversion of polyolefins to upcycled liquids and avoiding the formation of light gases.

Chemo-Microbial Conversion of Polyethylene Wasteinto Silk-Protein

We report the development of a new strain of Pseudomonas bacteria capable of converting depolymerized polyethylene into high value recombinant protein products.

Mass Transfer in Catalytic Depolymerization: Serendipitous Processivity in Stagnant and Stirred Melts

The study predicts the effects of diffusion limitations on co-reactant transport to the catalyst and on chain egress after scission.

Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of SrTiO3 Nanocuboids without TiCl4

A microwave-assisted heating method was developed to afford 20+ g STO samples at milder conditions than previously attainable without TiCl4 and in only water.

Adsorption and Mobility of Polymers in Long Nanopores: From Non-eq Stat Mech to 2D-NMR

This research enables quantitative estimates of polymer reptation diffusivity and polymer-wall interactions in silicananopores.

Scalable, Solution Phase Deposition of Nanoparticles for the Catalytic Hydrogenolysis of Plastic Waste

A deposition method for Pt onto SrTiO3 (STO; Pt/STO) supports was developed that facilitates synthetic scale-up and retains the precision of atomic layer deposition.

Coarse-Grained Modeling of Polymer Cleavage Within a Porous Catalytic Support

Results of this research offer a mechanistic explanation for an experimentally observed product distribution trend related to a tunable physical parameter of a catalytic architecture for plastics’ upcycling.

Molecular Weight Evolution in Polymer Upcycling: Extracting Rates and Identifying Mechanistic Signatures

This research resulted in development of a framework to formulate and solve coupled bulk population balances, bulk species balances, and surface-adsorbed population balances.

Recyclable Polyethylene-Like Polymer From Plastic Jug

This work highlights the transformation of plastic waste using catalytic transformations to obtain a new HDPE-like polymer that maintains similar thermal and mechanical properties to the original material.