Institute for Cooperative Upcycling of Plastics Research Highlights

Confined Ru Is 30× Faster for Polyolefin Deconstruction to Produce Waxes with 94% Selectivity

Localized confinement in mesopores increases the rate and selectivity of Ru-catalyzed C–C bond cleavage in polyolefin hydrogenolysis by influencing polymer chains' contact with active sites and their conformations.

Perovskite Nanoparticle Surface Revealed by Sensitivity-Enhanced NMR Spectroscopy

The surface and subsurface structure of LaScO3 perovskite nanoparticles was determined using dynamic nuclear polarization-enhanced nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (DNP-NMR).

Visual of particle surface cross section.

Transforming Used Plastics into Functional Materials

Chemical upcycling of plastic waste provides new functional materials with tunable thermal and mechanical properties.

Dechlorination of PVC to branched PE

Poly(vinyl chloride) was fully dechlorinated, in a reaction mediated by silylium ions under air, to give branched polyethylene products.

Chemical representation of PVC dechlorination

A microkinetic model for isomerizing ethenolysis

A microkinetic model for isomerizing ethenolysis (IE) was developed and solved for the first time, to determine reaction orders of two reactants.

Proposed mechanism of isomerizing ethenolysis

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.

Deconstructing Macromolecules Into Useful Molecules

In the DOE-BES Supported Energy Frontier Research Center, part of the research has focused on the bio-inspired processive macromolecular mechanism for polyolefin deconstruction. This approach employs hydrogenolysis as a means to break C-C bond in the polymer chains; however, the most important feature is the placement of all the catalytic sites at a specific location with each pore. Our synthetic control over catalyst architecture has provided means to study the effects of catalytic architecture on the deconstruction process. Pore diameter, length, and catalyst site placement can all be used to systematically shorten or lengthen products’ chain length, affect yields, and alter selectivity.

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.

Treasuring Trash: Pt/SrTiO3 Catalyst ProcessPlastic Waste into High-Value Materials

Catalytic hydrogenolysis is a promising technique for converting polyolefin materials into products with potential commercial use.

polyethylene and polypropylene feedstocks.