excel / new research
Newly Discovered Polymer May Create Infinitely Recyclable Plastics As the planet’s burden of rubber and plastic rises unabated, scientists look to the promise of closed-loop recycling to reduce trash. Paul Chirik, the Edwards S. Sanford Professor of Chemistry, discovered a new molecule and process for chemically recycling plastics, opening the door to sequestering carbon in the things we use and managing plastic waste on a large scale. His research team, including first author of the study Megan Mohadjer Beromi, a postdoctoral research fellow in Chirik’s lab, found that the common molecule, butadiene, which is a major byproduct of fossil
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Iron-catalyzed [2+2] oligomerization of butadiene produces (1,n'-divinyl) oligocyclobutane, a new polymer that can be chemically recycled. (Figure by Jonathan Darmon) RIGHT
Princeton researchers led by Paul Chirik and Megan Mohadjer Beromi have discovered a potentially game-changing new molecule with vast implications for making plastics that are truly recyclable. (Photo by C. Todd Reichart)
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fuel development and also is an abundant organic compound, could be turned into a new polymer. Known as oligocyclobutane, this polymer has properties that can not only make a hard, strong plastic, but in a rare feature, can also be chemically broken down and returned back to butadiene. The process of both creating the polymer and recovering the building block, butadiene, is known as chemical recycling and relies on a unique iron catalyst, which the team discovered. It is the only known trigger that enables both the creation of this new plastic base and its reversibility. The paper was published in the journal Nature Chemistry.
