Recyclable thermoset hyperbranched polymers containing reversible hexahydro-s-triazine

Zejun Xu, Yeyun Liang, Xu Ma, Sufang Chen, Chenglong Yu, Yimei Wang, Daohong Zhang () and Menghe Miao
Additional contact information
Zejun Xu: South-Central University for Nationalities
Yeyun Liang: South-Central University for Nationalities
Xu Ma: South-Central University for Nationalities
Sufang Chen: Wuhan Institute of Technology
Chenglong Yu: South-Central University for Nationalities
Yimei Wang: South-Central University for Nationalities
Daohong Zhang: South-Central University for Nationalities
Menghe Miao: CSIRO Manufacturing

Nature Sustainability, 2020, vol. 3, issue 1, 29-34

Abstract: Abstract Thermoset materials containing about 70 wt% epoxy resin are widely used in critical aerospace and wind power structures, generating enormous amounts of waste (such as offcuts and damaged, worn and disposed parts) that affect both the environment and the sustainable development of human society. Owing to their irreversible crosslinked networks, thermoset materials pose major challenges for rapid degradation and high-efficiency recycling. Here we report the synthesis of thermoset hyperbranched polymers (HER-HTn) containing a reversible heterocyclic structure (hexahydro-s-triazine) that can be degraded under relatively mild conditions. The cured HER-HTn exhibit excellent mechanical and thermal properties, as well as rapid degradability in more environmentally friendly phosphoric acid solutions. Controlled degradation experiments show that the cured HER-HTn can be completely digested at relatively low temperatures (90 °C) in a short period (2 h) to recover 2-aminobenzyl alcohol at a high recycling efficiency (85.1%). The recovered 2-aminobenzyl alcohol can then be used to produce the initial hexahydro-s-triazine monomer, which demonstrates the reversibility of the hexahydro-s-triazine structure and recoverability of the thermoset hyperbranched polymers. This investigation provides a method for the synthesis of a degradable thermoset matrix and the cyclic use of high-value materials in the thermoset and its composites.

Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-019-0444-6 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natsus:v:3:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41893-019-0444-6

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/natsustain/

DOI: 10.1038/s41893-019-0444-6

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Sustainability is currently edited by Monica Contestabile

More articles in Nature Sustainability from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().