Liu Zenghe, Fang Zizheng, Zheng Ning, Yang Kexuan, Sun Zhuo, Li Sujing, Li Wei, Wu Jingjun, Xie Tao
State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
ZJU-Hangzhou Global Scientific and Technological Innovation Center, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Nat Chem. 2023 Dec;15(12):1773-1779. doi: 10.1038/s41557-023-01308-9. Epub 2023 Aug 28.
Polyurethane thermosets are indispensable to modern life, but their widespread use has become an increasingly pressing environmental burden. Current recycling approaches are economically unattractive and/or lead to recycled products of inferior properties, making their large-scale implementation unviable. Here we report a highly efficient chemical strategy for upcycling thermoset polyurethane foams that yields products of much higher economic values than the original material. Starting from a commodity foam, we show that the polyurethane network is chemically fragmented into a dissolvable mixture under mild conditions. We demonstrate that three-dimensional photo-printable resins with tunable material mechanical properties-which are superior to commercial high-performance counterparts-can be formulated with the addition of various network reforming additives. Our direct upcycling of commodity foams is economically attractive and can be implemented with ease, and the principle can be expanded to other commodity thermosets.
聚氨酯热固性材料对现代生活不可或缺，但它们的广泛使用已成为日益紧迫的环境负担。目前的回收方法在经济上缺乏吸引力，并且/或者会导致回收产品性能较差，这使得它们无法大规模实施。在此，我们报告了一种高效的化学策略，用于将热固性聚氨酯泡沫升级回收，该策略所产生的产品经济价值远高于原始材料。从一种商用泡沫材料出发，我们证明聚氨酯网络在温和条件下可化学裂解为可溶解的混合物。我们还展示了通过添加各种网络重整添加剂，可以配制出具有可调材料机械性能的三维光可打印树脂，其性能优于商用高性能树脂。我们对商用泡沫的直接升级回收在经济上具有吸引力且易于实施，并且该原理可扩展到其他商用热固性材料。
