ResearchOne major challenge for chemistry is addressing the growing demand and accumulation of plastics. It is well understood that the plastics industry needs to make changes to address the environmental impact of disposable plastic packaging. This problem really needs to be addressed at many steps of the process, including the production of the monomers and materials, as well as the collection and recycling/upcycling of the used items.
We intend to use molecular inorganic chemistry to identify catalysts that can address both of those areas. Therefore, our major research thrusts are catalyst development for the synthesis of degradable polymers that could be used as replacements for petroleum based plastics, as well as the degradation of current, commercial polymers.
Our research thrust for the synthesis of degradable polymers takes advantage of the unique properties of rare earth metal catalysts. Rare earth metals include scandium, yttrium and the lanthanide series. While these elements often show similar reactivity, these elements show the most subtle trend in ionic radius, which can be another way to tune the reactivity of a catalyst (in addition to changing the ligands.
Contrary to their unfortunate nickname, rare earth metals are much more abundant than precious metals. They are also used for numerous industrial products and as catalysts. We aim to use rare earth complexes as variable and tunable catalysts for the synthesis of degradable and/or recyclable thermoplastics and thermoplastic elastomers. We are interested in developing these polymers for numerous short-term commercial applications, including packaging and medical use. Our second research thrust involves the use of homogeneous catalysts (using alkaline earth, transition or rare earth metals) to depolymerize or upcycle commercial plastics. Our primary intentions are to learn fundamental principles of working with post-consumer polymer products to establish catalytic reprocessing of polymers as a viable industrial process. We are currently working on projects to address PET (#1), PE (#2 and 4), PVC (#3), and nylon, polycarbonates and polyurethanes (#7).
Microplastics AnalysisIn collaboration with the Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability and Professors Jill Sohm and Audra Bardsley, we are building an environmental studies project analyzing water samples from the greater Los Angeles area.
|
Funding SourcesWe are grateful to the following organizations and agencies for support of our research:
Cottrell Scholar Award (2023-2026)
DOE EFRC Institute for Cooperative Upcycling of Plastics, Seed Funding (2023-2024)
2023 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award (2023-2026) Our Research and Education in the News
Plastic DonorsWe are grateful to these companies for donating post-consumer plastics to help us in our chemical recycling efforts!
|