Miravalle Edoardo, Bracco Pierangiola, Brunella Valentina, Barolo Claudia, Zanetti Marco
Department of Chemistry, NIS Interdepartmental Centre, University of Turin, Via P. Giuria 7, 10125 Turin, Italy.
INSTM Reference Centre, University of Turin, Via G. Quarello 15A, 10135 Turin, Italy.
Polymers (Basel). 2023 Sep 15;15(18):3780. doi: 10.3390/polym15183780.
The global plastic waste problem has created an urgent need for the development of more sustainable materials and recycling processes. Polyurethane (PU) plastics, which represent 5.5% of globally produced plastics, are particularly challenging to recycle owing to their crosslinked structure. Covalent adaptable networks (CANs) based on dynamic covalent bonds have emerged as a promising solution for recycling PU waste. CANs enable the production of thermoset polymers that can be recycled using methods that are traditionally reserved for thermoplastic polymers. Reprocessing using hot-pressing techniques, in particular, proved to be more suited for the class of polyurethanes, allowing for the efficient recycling of PU materials. This Review paper explores the potential of CANs for improving the sustainability of PU recycling processes by examining different types of PU-CANs, bond types, and fillers that can be used to optimise the recycling efficiency. The paper concludes that further research is needed to develop more cost-effective and industrial-friendly techniques for recycling PU-CANs, as they can significantly contribute to sustainable development by creating recyclable thermoset polymers.
全球塑料垃圾问题迫切需要开发更具可持续性的材料和回收工艺。聚氨酯（PU）塑料占全球塑料产量的5.5%，由于其交联结构，回收利用极具挑战性。基于动态共价键的共价自适应网络（CANs）已成为回收PU废料的一种很有前景的解决方案。CANs能够生产热固性聚合物，这些聚合物可以使用传统上用于热塑性聚合物的方法进行回收。特别是，使用热压技术进行再加工被证明更适合聚氨酯类材料，从而实现PU材料的高效回收。这篇综述文章通过研究不同类型的PU-CANs、键型和可用于优化回收效率的填料，探讨了CANs在提高PU回收工艺可持续性方面的潜力。文章得出结论，需要进一步研究以开发更具成本效益和工业友好型的PU-CANs回收技术，因为它们可以通过制造可回收的热固性聚合物为可持续发展做出重大贡献。
