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Lohmann V, Jones GR, Truong NP, Anastasaki A. The thermodynamics and kinetics of depolymerization: what makes vinyl monomer regeneration feasible? Chem Sci 2024; 15:832-853. [PMID: 38239674 PMCID: PMC10793647 DOI: 10.1039/d3sc05143a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Depolymerization is potentially a highly advantageous method of recycling plastic waste which could move the world closer towards a truly circular polymer economy. However, depolymerization remains challenging for many polymers with all-carbon backbones. Fundamental understanding and consideration of both the kinetics and thermodynamics are essential in order to develop effective new depolymerization systems that could overcome this problem, as the feasibility of monomer generation can be drastically altered by tuning the reaction conditions. This perspective explores the underlying thermodynamics and kinetics governing radical depolymerization of addition polymers by revisiting pioneering work started in the mid-20th century and demonstrates its connection to exciting recent advances which report depolymerization reaching near-quantitative monomer regeneration at much lower temperatures than seen previously. Recent catalytic approaches to monomer regeneration are also explored, highlighting that this nascent chemistry could potentially revolutionize depolymerization-based polymer recycling in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria Lohmann
- Laboratory of Polymeric Materials, Department of Materials, ETH Zürich Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5 8093 Zürich Switzerland
| | - Glen R Jones
- Laboratory of Polymeric Materials, Department of Materials, ETH Zürich Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5 8093 Zürich Switzerland
| | - Nghia P Truong
- Laboratory of Polymeric Materials, Department of Materials, ETH Zürich Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5 8093 Zürich Switzerland
- Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University 399 Royal Parade Parkville VIC 3152 Australia
| | - Athina Anastasaki
- Laboratory of Polymeric Materials, Department of Materials, ETH Zürich Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5 8093 Zürich Switzerland
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2
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Cederholm L, Olsén P, Hakkarainen M, Odelius K. Turning natural δ-lactones to thermodynamically stable polymers with triggered recyclability. Polym Chem 2020. [DOI: 10.1039/d0py00270d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Extending the use of natural δ-lactones in circular materials via a synthetic strategy yielding thermodynamically stable polyesters with triggered recyclability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linnea Cederholm
- Wallenberg Wood Science Center
- WWSC
- Department of Fibre and Polymer Technology
- KTH Royal Institute of Technology
- 100 44 Stockholm
| | - Peter Olsén
- Wallenberg Wood Science Center
- WWSC
- Department of Fibre and Polymer Technology
- KTH Royal Institute of Technology
- 100 44 Stockholm
| | - Minna Hakkarainen
- Wallenberg Wood Science Center
- WWSC
- Department of Fibre and Polymer Technology
- KTH Royal Institute of Technology
- 100 44 Stockholm
| | - Karin Odelius
- Wallenberg Wood Science Center
- WWSC
- Department of Fibre and Polymer Technology
- KTH Royal Institute of Technology
- 100 44 Stockholm
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Liu FF, McAuley KB. Improved Kinetic Rate Constants for Nylon 6, Nylon 6,6, and Nylon 6/6,6 Copolymer. MACROMOL REACT ENG 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/mren.201900037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Fei F. Liu
- Department of Chemical EngineeringQueen's University Kingston Ontario K7L3N6 Canada
| | - Kim B. McAuley
- Department of Chemical EngineeringQueen's University Kingston Ontario K7L3N6 Canada
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Liu FF, Marchildon EK, McAuley KB. Modeling Equilibrium Behavior of Nylon 6, Nylon 6,6 and Nylon 6/6,6 Copolymer. MACROMOL REACT ENG 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/mren.201800078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Fei F. Liu
- Department of Chemical EngineeringQueen's University Kingston Ontario K7L3N6 Canada
| | - E. Keith Marchildon
- Department of Chemical EngineeringQueen's University Kingston Ontario K7L3N6 Canada
| | - Kimberley B. McAuley
- Department of Chemical EngineeringQueen's University Kingston Ontario K7L3N6 Canada
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Affiliation(s)
- SANTOSH K. GUPTA
- a Department of Chemical Engineering , Indian Institute of Technology , Kanpur , 208016 , India
| | - ANIL KUMAR
- a Department of Chemical Engineering , Indian Institute of Technology , Kanpur , 208016 , India
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Semenov AN. Long-range correlation effects in directional living polymers. SOFT MATTER 2014; 10:9534-9561. [PMID: 25354201 DOI: 10.1039/c4sm01017e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
The statistics of (equilibrium) living polymers including both linear chains and rings are considered theoretically. Particular attention is addressed to directional polymers characterized by an arrow along the backbone defined by its chemical structure. Thermodynamic and correlation properties of living polymers are studied both in the mean-field and in the critical scaling regimes. It is shown that living polymers with no rings, classical living polymers with rings, and directional living polymers with rings form three distinct classes characterized by different critical exponents and qualitatively different long-range correlation functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- A N Semenov
- Institut Charles Sadron, CNRS - UPR 22, Université de Strasbourg, 23 rue du Loess, BP 84047, 67034 Strasbourg Cedex 2, France
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Freed KF. Influence of small rings on the thermodynamics of equilibrium self-assembly. J Chem Phys 2012; 136:244904. [DOI: 10.1063/1.4730161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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Dudowicz J, Freed KF. Lattice cluster theory of associating polymers. I. Solutions of linear telechelic polymer chains. J Chem Phys 2012; 136:064902. [DOI: 10.1063/1.3681257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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Lee CW, Masutani K, Kato T, Kimura Y. Homopolymerization and copolymerization of a dilactone, 13,26-dihexyl-1,14-dioxa-cyclohexacosane-2,15-dione: Synthesis of bio-based polyesters and copolyesters consisting of 12-hydroxystearate sequences. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2011. [DOI: 10.1002/pola.25893] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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10
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Maeda T, Otsuka H, Takahara A. Dynamic covalent polymers: Reorganizable polymers with dynamic covalent bonds. Prog Polym Sci 2009. [DOI: 10.1016/j.progpolymsci.2009.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 311] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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Douglas JF, Dudowicz J, Freed KF. Does equilibrium polymerization describe the dynamic heterogeneity of glass-forming liquids? J Chem Phys 2007; 125:144907. [PMID: 17042650 DOI: 10.1063/1.2356863] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
A significant body of evidence indicates that particles with excessively high or low mobility relative to Brownian particles form in dynamic equilibrium in glass-forming liquids. We examine whether these "dynamic heterogeneities" can be identified with a kind of equilibrium polymerization. This correspondence is first checked by demonstrating the presence of a striking resemblance between the temperature dependences of the configurational entropy s(c) in both the theory of equilibrium polymerization and the generalized entropy theory of glass formation in polymer melts. Moreover, the multiple characteristic temperatures of glass formation are also shown to have analogs in the thermodynamics of equilibrium polymerization, supporting the contention that both processes are varieties of rounded thermodynamic transitions. We also find that the average cluster mass (or degree of polymerization) varies in nearly inverse proportionality to s(c). This inverse relation accords with the basic hypothesis of Adam-Gibbs that the number of particles in the cooperatively rearranging regions (CRR) of glass-forming liquids scales inversely to s(c) of the fluid. Our identification of the CRR with equilibrium polymers is further supported by simulations for a variety of glass-forming liquids that verify the existence of stringlike or polymeric clusters exhibiting collective particle motion. Moreover, these dynamical clusters have an exponential length distribution, and the average "string" length grows upon cooling according to the predictions of equilibrium polymerization theory. The observed scale of dynamic heterogeneity in glass-forming liquids is found to be consistent with this type of self-assembly process. Both experiments and simulations have revealed remarkable similarities between the dynamical properties of self-assembling and glass-forming liquids, suggesting that the development of a theory for the dynamics of self-assembling fluids will also enhance our understanding of relaxation in glass-forming liquids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jack F Douglas
- Polymers Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA
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Rah K, Freed KF, Dudowicz J, Douglas JF. Lattice model of equilibrium polymerization. V. Scattering properties and the width of the critical regime for phase separation. J Chem Phys 2006; 124:144906. [PMID: 16626244 DOI: 10.1063/1.2181138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Dynamic clustering associated with self-assembly in many complex fluids can qualitatively alter the shape of phase boundaries and produce large changes in the scale of critical fluctuations that are difficult to comprehend within the existing framework of theories of critical phenomena for nonassociating fluids. In order to elucidate the scattering and critical properties of associating fluids, we consider several models of equilibrium polymerization that describe widely occurring types of associating fluids at equilibrium and that exhibit the well defined cluster geometry of linear polymer chains. Specifically, a Flory-Huggins-type lattice theory is used, in conjunction with the random phase approximation, to compute the correlation length amplitude xi(o) and the Ginzburg number Gi corresponding, respectively, to the scale of composition fluctuations and to a parameter characterizing the temperature range over which Ising critical behavior is exhibited. Our calculations indicate that upon increasing the interparticle association energy, the polymer chains become increasingly long in the vicinity of the critical point, leading naturally to a more asymmetric phase boundary. This increase in the average degree of polymerization implies, in turn, a larger xi(o) and a drastically reduced width of the critical region (as measured by Gi). We thus obtain insight into the common appearance of asymmetric phase boundaries in a wide range of "complex" fluids and into the observation of apparent mean field critical behavior even rather close to the critical point.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyunil Rah
- The James Franck Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
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Rane SS, Gujrati PD. Theory of Crystallization under Equilibrium Polymerization in a Solution and the Investigation of Its Melting Properties. Macromolecules 2005. [DOI: 10.1021/ma047622f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sagar S. Rane
- Department of Polymer Science and Department of Physics, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio 44325
| | - P. D. Gujrati
- Department of Polymer Science and Department of Physics, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio 44325
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Abstract
The aggregation of monomers into polymers, whether by covalent or noncovalent interactions, is often reversible and frequently occurs with the entropy and enthalpy of the aggregation sharing the same sign. In such a case, the aggregation goes forward or reverses, depending on such variables as temperature and composition, rather like a phase transition. We explore the physical chemistry of three such systems: an organic monomer (alpha-methylstyrene), an inorganic monomer (sulfur), and a biopolymer (actin). We compare the available theories and experiments and list issues still open.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra C Greer
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, Maryland 20742-2111, USA.
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Abstract
Dynamic covalent chemistry relates to chemical reactions carried out reversibly under conditions of equilibrium control. The reversible nature of the reactions introduces the prospects of "error checking" and "proof-reading" into synthetic processes where dynamic covalent chemistry operates. Since the formation of products occurs under thermodynamic control, product distributions depend only on the relative stabilities of the final products. In kinetically controlled reactions, however, it is the free energy differences between the transition states leading to the products that determines their relative proportions. Supramolecular chemistry has had a huge impact on synthesis at two levels: one is noncovalent synthesis, or strict self-assembly, and the other is supramolecular assistance to molecular synthesis, also referred to as self-assembly followed by covalent modification. Noncovalent synthesis has given us access to finite supermolecules and infinite supramolecular arrays. Supramolecular assistance to covalent synthesis has been exploited in the construction of more-complex systems, such as interlocked molecular compounds (for example, catenanes and rotaxanes) as well as container molecules (molecular capsules). The appealing prospect of also synthesizing these types of compounds with complex molecular architectures using reversible covalent bond forming chemistry has led to the development of dynamic covalent chemistry. Historically, dynamic covalent chemistry has played a central role in the development of conformational analysis by opening up the possibility to be able to equilibrate configurational isomers, sometimes with base (for example, esters) and sometimes with acid (for example, acetals). These stereochemical "balancing acts" revealed another major advantage that dynamic covalent chemistry offers the chemist, which is not so easily accessible in the kinetically controlled regime: the ability to re-adjust the product distribution of a reaction, even once the initial products have been formed, by changing the reaction's environment (for example, concentration, temperature, presence or absence of a template). This highly transparent, yet tremendously subtle, characteristic of dynamic covalent chemistry has led to key discoveries in polymer chemistry. In this review, some recent examples where dynamic covalent chemistry has been demonstrated are shown to emphasise the basic concepts of this area of science.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stuart J Rowan
- Department of Macromolecular Science, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
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Di Marzio E. The ten classes of polymeric phase transitions: their use as models for self-assembly. Prog Polym Sci 1999. [DOI: 10.1016/s0079-6700(99)00008-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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20
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra C. Greer
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, Maryland 20742-2111
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21
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Ivkov R, Forbes JG, Greer SC. The polymerization of actin: Study by small angle neutron scattering. J Chem Phys 1998. [DOI: 10.1063/1.475948] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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Mizerovskii L, Kuznetsov A, Bazarov Y, Bykov A. Equilibrium in the system polycaproamide-caprolactam-water below the melting point of the polymer. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 1982. [DOI: 10.1016/0032-3950(82)90404-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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24
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Sawada H. Thermodynamics of Polymerization. IV. Thermodynamics of Equilibrium Polymerization. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 1972. [DOI: 10.1080/15321797208068172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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26
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Equilibrium ring concentrations and the statistical conformations of polymer chains II—Macrocyclics in nylon 6. POLYMER 1969. [DOI: 10.1016/0032-3861(69)90079-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Ogata N. Studies on Polymerization and Depolymerization of ε-Caprolactam Polymer. IX. Reformation Reaction of ε-Caprolactam from Poly-ε-capramide. BULLETIN OF THE CHEMICAL SOCIETY OF JAPAN 1961. [DOI: 10.1246/bcsj.34.1201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
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