CO2 becomes chemical source for polyurethane production in study by University of Liège

An estimated 460 million tonnes of commodity plastics were used globally in 2019, with Christophe Detrembleur, FNRS research director at the Center for Education and Research on Macromolecules (CERM), commenting: “This number is staggering, but not surprising. However, the fact that they are difficult to recycle, or even impossible to recycle in the case of thermosets, has serious consequences.”

In response, researchers aim to produce easy to recycle plastics that could prevent the use of fossil fuels as well as slowing a build-up of waste in the environment and oceans.

These new polyurethanes will feature dynamic chemical bonds that can be reshaped under ‘relatively mild’ reaction conditions.

Thomas Habets, a doctoral student at CERM says that: “These new plastics can be recycled in multiple ways, either by simply reshaping them by heating them, or by mixing different types of plastic to create hybrid materials with new properties, or by breaking them down into their constituent monomers.”

The study intends to prove the viability of utlising CO2 as a chemical resource, it is hoped to become a potential solution to replace commodity plastics while providing the same functionality and properties as conventional solutions.

Detrembleur adds: “This is the first initial study using our new building blocks and plastics, but it is quite remarkable to see that our materials can already reach properties similar to those of some conventional petro-sourced plastics.”