A5053030488- Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
- Recycling and Waste Management Techniques
- biodegradable polymer synthesis and properties
- Polymer composites and self-healing
- Municipal Solid Waste Management
- Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing Technologies
- Sustainable Supply Chain Management
- Synthesis and Properties of Aromatic Compounds
- Innovation Diffusion and Forecasting
- Catalysis for Biomass Conversion
- Technology Assessment and Management
- Synthetic Organic Chemistry Methods
- Advanced Polymer Synthesis and Characterization
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
2021-2025
Esterases have emerged as important biocatalysts for enzyme-based polyester recycling of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) to terephthalic acid (TPA) and ethylene glycol (EG). Here, we present process modeling, techno-economic, life-cycle, socioeconomic impact analyses an enzymatic PET depolymerization-based process, which compare with virgin TPA manufacturing. We predict that enzymatically recycled (rTPA) can be cost-competitive highlight key areas achieve this. In addition favorable...
Over 400 million metric tons of plastic waste are generated globally each year, resulting in pollution and lost resources. Recycling strategies can recapture this wasted material, but there is a lack quantitative transparent data on the capabilities impacts these processes. Here, we develop set material quality, retention, circularity, contamination tolerance, minimum selling price, greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, land toxicity, generation, water use metrics for closed-loop polymer...
This work examines the feasibility of a greenfield mixed plastics waste gasification facility with process modeling, TEA, and LCA.
This study analyzes catalytic fast pyrolysis as a conversion technology for mixed plastic waste, highlighting key economic and environmental drivers potential opportunities process improvements.
Life cycle assessment of enzymatic poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) recycling highlights key challenges and opportunities for improving environmental impacts.
Commercial adhesives are petroleum-based thermoset networks or nonbiodegradable thermoplastic hot melts, making them ideal targets for replacement by biodegradable alternatives. Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (P3HB) is a biorenewable and alternative to conventional plastics, but microbial P3HB, which has stereoperfect stereomicrostructure, exhibits no adhesion. In this study, elucidating the fundamental relationship between chemocatalytically engineered P3HB stereomicrostructures adhesion...
There is a drive to use bio-based feedstocks in polymers and engineer new materials for circularity. Here, we aimed study bio-based, lower-ceiling-temperature alternatives poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) achieve enhanced recycling performance. We show that poly(α-methylene-δ-valerolactone) (PMVL) poly(α-methylene-δ-decalactone) (PMDL), derived from the corresponding monomers MVL MDL, exhibit five advantages compared PMMA: exceptionally high polymerization rates under green conditions,...
Adoption of emerging technologies can be difficult, but improved by using a framework that incorporates the relative environmental, social, and economic performance new technology, such as for enzymatic recycling polymer.
Fiber-reinforced polymers (FRPs) are critical for energy-relevant applications such as wind turbine blades. Despite this, the end-of-life options FRPs limited they permanently cross-linked thermosets. To enable circularity of FRPs, we formulated a bio-derivable polyester covalently adaptable network (PECAN), sometimes referred to vitrimer, manufacture at >1 kg scale, which is accomplished resin infusible (175–425 cP 25°C viscosity), can be cured 80°C within 5 h and depolymerizable via...
Synthetic polymers that contain C–O and C–N linkages in their backbones, such as poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), polyamides, polyurethanes, are potential substrates for enzymatic recycling of waste plastics. Enabled by advances machine learning tools high-throughput expression, purification, assaying pipelines new enzymes, this talk will cover our efforts enzyme discovery, engineering, design the depolymerization these three classes Consideration process economics, energy use, greenhouse...