Massimiliano Delferro, deputy director of iCOUP and scientist at Argonne National Laboratory, won a 2022 R&D Award for his project, “Catalytic Upcycling of Plastic Films to High-Performance Lubricants.”
His team developed a chemical catalyst to break plastic polymers into higher-value chemicals that can be used in products such as waxes, lubricants, detergents, and cosmetics. This catalyst consists of platinum nanoparticles and converts polyethylene and polypropylene plastic waste into higher-value chemicals by separating polymer chains at specific intervals.
Funding for the research came from DOE’s Office of Basic Energy Sciences, the REUSE program of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, and the Advanced Manufacturing Office and Bioenergy Technologies Office of the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
Read Argonne’s announcement of this award HERE.