Closed-loop recycling of plastics enabled by dynamic covalent diketoenamine bonds
Open accessAbstract
Recycled plastics are low-value commodities due to residual impurities and the degradation of polymer properties with each cycle of re-use. Plastics that undergo reversible polymerization allow high-value monomers to be recovered and re-manufactured into pristine materials, which should incentivize recycling in closed-loop life cycles. However, monomer recovery is often costly, incompatible with complex mixtures and energy-intensive. Here, we show that next-generation plastics-polymerized using dynamic covalent diketoenamine bonds-allow the recovery of monomers from common additives, even in mixed waste streams. Poly(diketoenamine)s 'click' together from a wide variety of triketones and aromatic or aliphatic amines, yielding only water as a by-product. Recovered monomers can be re-manufactured into the same polymer formulation, without loss of performance, as well as other polymer formulations with differentiated properties. The ease with which poly(diketoenamine)s can be manufactured, used, recycled and re-used-without losing value-points to new directions in designing sustainable polymers with minimal environmental impact.
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Existing strategies to create reprocessable thermosets have focused on dynamic covalent bond exchange, thermomechanical degradation, or wholesale replacement of network components with degradable versions.
“Existing strategies to create reprocessable thermosets have focused on dynamic covalent bond exchange, 3-8 thermomechanical degradation, 9 or wholesale replacement of network components with degradable versions. 10-13”
From Cleavable comonomers enable degradable, recyclable thermoset plastics (2020) · cites this paper as [11]
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- Authors
- Christensen, P. R., Scheuermann, A. M., Loeffler, K. E., & Helms, B. A.
- Affiliations
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US)
- Corresponding author
- Helms, Brett A.
- Venue
- Nature Chemistry
- Published
- 2019-04-22
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 442-448
- ISSN
- 1755-4330 (ISSN-L)
- 1755-4349
- OpenAlex
- W2939480896
- Cited by
- 676
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 55 · 2025: 103 · 2024: 117 · 2023: 117 · 2022: 104 · 2021: 86 · 2020: 65 · 2019: 29
- FWCI
- 30.33
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.osti.gov
- Licence
- Locations
- Nature Chemistry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) (submittedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Energy (-AC02-05CH11231, 05CH11231, DE AC02 05CH11231, DE-AC02-)
- Office of Science (DEAC02–05CH11231, AC02-05CH11231, DE-AC02)
- Basic Energy Sciences (DE-AC02, DE-AC02-05CH11231., AC02–05CH11231)
- Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (DE-AC02-05CH11231)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (AC02‐05CH11231, DE-AC02-05CH11231, 05CH11231)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Polymers and Plastics › Polymer composites and self-healing
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Polymers and Plastics › Polymer crystallization and properties
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Biomaterials › biodegradable polymer synthesis and properties
- Keywords
- closed-loop recycling, dynamic covalent bonds, monomer recovery, upcycling, depolymerization, triketones, amines, mixed plastic waste, sustainable polymers, polymer additives
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