Dynamic crosslinking compatibilizes immiscible mixed plastics

Ryan W. Clarke, Tobias Sandmeier, Kevin A. Franklin, Dominik Reich, Xiao Zhang, Nayan Vengallur, Tarak K. Patra, Robert J. Tannenbaum, Sabin Adhikari, Sanat K. Kumar (), Tomislav Rovis () and Eugene Y.-X. Chen ()
Additional contact information
Ryan W. Clarke: Colorado State University
Tobias Sandmeier: Columbia University
Kevin A. Franklin: Colorado State University
Dominik Reich: Columbia University
Xiao Zhang: Columbia University
Nayan Vengallur: India Institute of Technology Madras
Tarak K. Patra: India Institute of Technology Madras
Robert J. Tannenbaum: Columbia University
Sabin Adhikari: Columbia University
Sanat K. Kumar: Columbia University
Tomislav Rovis: Columbia University
Eugene Y.-X. Chen: Colorado State University

Nature, 2023, vol. 616, issue 7958, 731-739

Abstract: Abstract The global plastics problem is a trifecta, greatly affecting environment, energy and climate1–4. Many innovative closed/open-loop plastics recycling or upcycling strategies have been proposed or developed5–16, addressing various aspects of the issues underpinning the achievement of a circular economy17–19. In this context, reusing mixed-plastics waste presents a particular challenge with no current effective closed-loop solution20. This is because such mixed plastics, especially polar/apolar polymer mixtures, are typically incompatible and phase separate, leading to materials with substantially inferior properties. To address this key barrier, here we introduce a new compatibilization strategy that installs dynamic crosslinkers into several classes of binary, ternary and postconsumer immiscible polymer mixtures in situ. Our combined experimental and modelling studies show that specifically designed classes of dynamic crosslinker can reactivate mixed-plastics chains, represented here by apolar polyolefins and polar polyesters, by compatibilizing them via dynamic formation of graft multiblock copolymers. The resulting in-situ-generated dynamic thermosets exhibit intrinsic reprocessability and enhanced tensile strength and creep resistance relative to virgin plastics. This approach avoids the need for de/reconstruction and thus potentially provides an alternative, facile route towards the recovery of the endowed energy and materials value of individual plastics.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05858-3

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