Breakthrough polymer to make plastic infinitely recyclable -Colorado State University chemists have discovered a polymer that can be infinitely recycled without intensive procedures in a laboratory or using toxic chemicals – Polymer plastic infinitely recyclable - Arhive

Colorado State University chemists have discovered a polymer that can be infinitely recycled without intensive procedures in a laboratory or using toxic chemicals.This polymer is strong, heat resistant, durable and lightweight.

It is a major step in making materials that are sustainable and waste-free.Polymers are characterized by chains of chemically bonded molecules called monomers. a monomer can be polymerized in environmentally friendly conditions: “solvent-free, at room temperature, with just a few minutes of reaction time and only a trace amount of catalyst.” The material created in this process possesses mechanical properties “that perform very much like a plastic.” said professor Eugene Chen in 2015.

With the help of catalysts, the polymer can be recycled. In the breakthrough journal  ‘science’ scientists envision a future with green plastics that can be “simply placed in a reactor and, in the chemical parlance, de-polymerized to recover their value — not possible for today’s petroleum  plastics.” “This would bring the material back to its chemical starting point, so it could be utilized again and again and again,” Chen added.

The polymers can be chemically recycled and reused, in principle, infinitely.

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