New route to chemically recyclable plastics chemeurope.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chemeurope.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
E-Mail
IMAGE: Iron-catalyzed [2+2] oligomerization of butadiene produces (1,n -divinyl)oligocyclobutane, a new polymer that can be chemically recycled. view more
Credit: Figure by Jonathan Darmon of the Princeton University Department of Chemistry.
As the planet s burden of rubber and plastic trash rises unabated, scientists increasingly look to the promise of closed-loop recycling to reduce waste. A team of researchers at Princeton s Department of Chemistry announces the discovery of a new polybutadiene molecule - from a material known for over a century and used to make common products like tires and shoes - that could one day advance this goal through depolymerization.