Future

More plastics join recycling

But not a lot of people know that not every type of plastic is a candidate for recycling. Thermosetting plastics are known to be impossible to change their shape, which is why it is very difficult to recycle it. Chemists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) decided to start a project in which this plastic could be modified without losing its attributes.

To begin with, it is known that when recycling a plastic, it is simply heated until it becomes a liquid and from there a new product is manufactured. In the case of thermosetting, when they go from liquid to solid, it is very difficult to convert them back into liquids.

The researchers used the method of covering the material with acids (fluoride) to break the silyl ether bonds. Then the material would turn into a powder which it will be dissolved in a solution that allowed them to make a new product.

It is believed that this method would not only work on this type of plastic but on others that are also not easy to recycle. This is why chemists hope to commercialize this new technology.

http://news.mit.edu/2020/tough-thermoset-plastics-recyclable-0722

15 de Septiembre, 2020