Research Areas

Plastics are essential to modern life. However, the pervasive use and careless disposal of these materials has resulted in economic wastefulness and created an environmental catastrophe.

Our research is focused on how plastics can be deployed pragmatically to address the needs of today, without compromising the future. Utilizing the tools of chemistry and catalysis, we synthesize new polymeric materials for sustainable applications.

These molecules provide tools for understanding polymer behavior and technologies for improving recycling, degrading plastics, and enhancing polymer performance.

CO2-Polymers

Can thermosets, elastomers, and plastics serve as a carbon sink, and yield enhanced or unique material properties?

Research areas and skills:

  • Structure-Property Relationships
  • Catalysis
  • Synthesis
  • Mechanical Testing
  • Spectroscopy

References:

  • Divergent reactivity of lactones derived from carbon dioxide and butadiene. Macromol. Rapid. Commun. 2022, 10.1002/marc.202200348.

  • Degradable structures from carbon dioxide and butadiene. ACS Macro Lett. 2021, 10, 1254–1259.

  • Homogeneous CO2 Copolymerization and Coupling. RSC Publishing, 2022. Green Chemistry Series. Ed. A. I. Stankiewicz, G. Stefanidis.

Polyolefins & Recycling

How can polymer architecture, crystallinity, and chemistry be optimized for enhanced toughness and strength in polyolefins and recycled plastics?

Research areas and skills:

  • Extrusion and Polymer Processing
  • Structure-Property Relationships

  • Catalysis

  • Synthesis

  • Process Engineering

References:

Research Supported By:

https://www.quanex.com/