| Title |
Polymeric Dynamic Crosslinker for Upcycling of Fragile Low-Molecular-Weight Polypropylene |
| ID_Doc |
24114 |
| Authors |
Sadri, M; Patil, S; Perkins, J; Gunter, Z; Cheng, SW; Qiang, Z |
| Title |
Polymeric Dynamic Crosslinker for Upcycling of Fragile Low-Molecular-Weight Polypropylene |
| Year |
2023 |
| Published |
Acs Applied Polymer Materials, 5, 6 |
| DOI |
10.1021/acsapm.3c00289 |
| Abstract |
While tremendous progress has been made in the dynamiccrosslinkingof polypropylene (PP) for plastic upcycling, the efficacy in addressinglow-molecular-weight (MW) PP waste remains untapped. In this work,we demonstrate a simple and scalable method to convert brittle low-MWPP to vitrimer materials with enhanced thermal and mechanical properties,enabling their use in circular upcycling. Different from most previouswork employing small-molecule crosslinkers, we prepare PP vitrimers(PPv) using polymeric crosslinkers, containing polyethyleneglycol segments, which leads to altered crystalline structures andnetwork formation. Importantly, by increasing the MW of crosslinkersfrom 200 to 1000 Da, the PPv exhibit more than 50 timesincrease in their fracture energy with strong ductility, which canbe attributed to combined effects of strengthened amorphous regionsof semi-crystalline PP domains and the phase separation between softpolyethylene glycol segments and the PP matrix. Moreover, when blendingthe PPv with high MW PP (PPh), the PPh/PPv blends show comparable elastic modulus, yield strength,and stretchability to that of the PPh, in sharp contrastto the widely known embrittlement of low-MW PP/PPh blends.These results demonstrate the use of polymeric dynamic crosslinkersas an important strategy for upcycling low-MW PP waste to value-addedproducts. |
| Author Keywords |
polyolefin; vitrimers; crystallinity; circular economy; structure-property relationship |
| Index Keywords |
Index Keywords |
| Document Type |
Other |
| Open Access |
Open Access |
| Source |
Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED) |
| EID |
WOS:001012171400001 |
| WoS Category |
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary; Polymer Science |
| Research Area |
Materials Science; Polymer Science |
| PDF |
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