Professor Susannah Scott
Wednesday, February 17, 2021
3:25 p.m.
Zoom
"Catalytic Upcycling of Polyolefins"
ABSTRACT: A successful circular plastics economy will depend on the ability to create value from commodity plastics in ways that mechanical recycling has simply not delivered. Chemical strategies to disassemble polymers must take into account thermodynamic and kinetic barriers, and target products of higher value. I will describe strategies to obtain valuable chemicals from polyolefins without the need for large inputs of energy or chemical resources, by coupling reactions that create and consume hydrogen.