Schneiderman Deborah K, Vanderlaan Marie E, Mannion Alexander M, Panthani Tessie R, Batiste Derek C, Wang Jay Z, Bates Frank S, Macosko Christopher W, Hillmyer Marc A
Departments of Chemistry and ‡Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455-0431, United States.
Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455-0431, United States.
ACS Macro Lett. 2016 Apr 19;5(4):515-518. doi: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.6b00193. Epub 2016 Apr 5.
Polyurethanes (PUs), in the form of coatings, adhesives, sealants, elastomers, and foams, play a vital role in the consumer goods, automotive, and construction industries. However, the inevitable disposal of nondegradable postconsumer polyurethane products constitutes a massive waste management problem that has yet to be solved. We address this challenge through the synthesis of biobased and chemically recyclable polyurethanes. Our approach employs renewable and degradable hydroxy telechelic poly(β-methyl-δ-valerolactone) as a replacement for petroleum-derived polyols in the synthesis of both thermoplastic polyurethanes and flexible foams. These materials rival petroleum-derived PUs in performance and can also be easily recycled to recover β-methyl-δ-valerolactone monomer in high purity and high yield. This recycling strategy bypasses many of the technical challenges that currently preclude the practical chemical recycling of PUs.
聚氨酯（PUs）以涂料、粘合剂、密封剂、弹性体和泡沫的形式，在消费品、汽车和建筑行业中发挥着至关重要的作用。然而，不可避免地要处理消费后不可降解的聚氨酯产品，这构成了一个尚未解决的大规模废物管理问题。我们通过合成生物基且可化学回收的聚氨酯来应对这一挑战。我们的方法采用可再生且可降解的羟基遥爪聚（β-甲基-δ-戊内酯），在热塑性聚氨酯和软质泡沫的合成中替代石油衍生的多元醇。这些材料在性能上可与石油衍生的聚氨酯相媲美，并且还可以很容易地进行回收，以高纯度和高收率回收β-甲基-δ-戊内酯单体。这种回收策略绕过了目前阻碍聚氨酯实际化学回收的许多技术挑战。
