Oh, A. B., Trano, S., Eng, Y. J., Lingua, G., Sardon, H., Mecerreyes, D., & Chan, J. M. W. (2025). Upcycling Commodity Styrofoam into Redox Polymer‐based Electrodes. ChemSusChem. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1002/cssc.202500092
Abstract:
Commodity polystyrene from styrofoam food boxes was chemically transformed into redox‐active organic polymers via a two‐step functionalization sequence. In the first step, controlled chloromethylation of the pendent phenyl rings was used to functionalize 30–50% of the polymer chain. The degree of functionalization could be tuned by simply varying the reaction time (1‒3 h). Next, phenothiazine or nitroxide radical moieties were introduced via nucleophilic displacement of the benzylic chlorides to afford polymers with redox‐active pendent sidechains. These phenothiazine and TEMPO‐functionalized polymers were then characterized electrochemically to demonstrate their redox properties and evaluate their performance as battery electrodes. Overall, this process serves as proof‐of‐concept for the rapid conversion of consumer‐grade styrofoam into redox‐active polymers with the potential to serve as metal‐free electrodes in organic batteries.
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Funding Info:
This research / project is supported by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research - Science and Engineering Research Council - 2022 Central Research Funds - Use-Inspired Basic Research
Grant Reference no. : SC22/22-1154BU-OOE
This research / project is supported by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research - Career Development Fund
Grant Reference no. : C210812024
Description:
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Oh, A. B., Trano, S., Eng, Y. J., Lingua, G., Sardon, H., Mecerreyes, D., & Chan, J. M. W. (2025). Upcycling Commodity Styrofoam into Redox Polymer‐based Electrodes. ChemSusChem. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1002/cssc.202500092, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/cssc.202500092. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.