Nguyen, B.-N. T., & Lim, J. Y. C. (2024). Emerging green approaches for valorization of plastics with saturated carbon backbones. Trends in Chemistry, 6(3), 100–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trechm.2024.01.001
Abstract:
Plastics possess highly unsustainable linear life cycles that are environmentally
damaging. With low recycling rates worldwide, plastics upcycling is emerging
as a promising alternative by using these abundant waste products as chemical
feedstock for the production of materials and essential chemicals of higher economic value. However, the saturated C–C polymer backbones of polymers constituting ~60% of all plastic waste are unreactive and challenging to upcycle, often
necessitating energy-intensive processes. This review examines state-of-the-art
sustainable approaches employing the Principles of Green Chemistry to
functionalize or cleave these unreactive polymer backbones, including alternative
solvents, Earth-abundant metal catalysis, emerging low-energy approaches, and
biocatalysis. Such sustainable strategies will enhance the attractiveness and
practical feasibility of plastics upcycling to achieve a circular materials economy.
License type:
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
Funding Info:
This research / project is supported by the National Research Foundation, Singapore - NRF Fellowship
Grant Reference no. : NRF-NRFF15-2023-0007