Pantazidis Christos, Wang Chang-Lin, Saito Keita, Chen Yi-Ru, Tomović Željko
Polymer Performance Materials Group, Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry and Institute for Complex Molecular Systems (ICMS), Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, MB, 5600, The Netherlands.
Small. 2025 Jul;21(26):e2502885. doi: 10.1002/smll.202502885. Epub 2025 Mar 26.
The global plastic waste crisis stems from unsustainable design and a linear economy that leads to massive environmental pollution. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), widely used in packaging and textiles is one of the primary contributors to this issue. While mechanical recycling of PET results in degraded material quality, chemical recycling offers a promising alternative, enabling the transformation of PET waste into valuable monomers and precursors. In this study, postconsumer PET waste is chemically upcycled into bifunctional aromatic amine that can serve as an effective building block for polyhexahydrotriazine (PHT) aerogels. Additionally, terephthalamide moieties incorporated into the molecular design, enhance the formed network by hydrogen bonding. The resulting PHT aerogels exhibit low density, high mechanical robustness, and outstanding thermal insulation properties. More importantly, these novel PHT aerogels are designed for recyclability, enabling depolymerization under aqueous acidic conditions and efficient monomer recovery in high yield and purity. The recycled monomer can then be immediately reused to produce new aerogels with nearly identical material properties. This work highlights the potential of upcycling plastic waste into sustainable thermally superinsulating materials designed for a circular economy.
全球塑料垃圾危机源于不可持续的设计和线性经济，这导致了大规模的环境污染。广泛用于包装和纺织品的聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯（PET）是这一问题的主要促成因素之一。虽然PET的机械回收会导致材料质量下降，但化学回收提供了一种有前景的替代方案，能够将PET废料转化为有价值的单体和前体。在本研究中，消费后PET废料被化学升级循环转化为双功能芳香胺，可作为聚六氢三嗪（PHT）气凝胶的有效构建单元。此外，纳入分子设计中的对苯二甲酰胺部分通过氢键增强了形成的网络。所得的PHT气凝胶具有低密度、高机械强度和出色的隔热性能。更重要的是，这些新型PHT气凝胶设计为可回收利用，能够在酸性水溶液条件下解聚并高效回收高产量和高纯度的单体。然后，回收的单体可立即重新用于生产具有几乎相同材料性能的新型气凝胶。这项工作突出了将塑料废料升级循环转化为为循环经济设计的可持续热超绝缘材料的潜力。
