Projekt

Most of today's polymer products are made from fossil resources, and due to the linearity of today's plastic economy massive environmental issues like microplastic pollution and greenhouse gas emissions are associated with the use of plastics. Therefore, the central question is how to design polymer products that have the desired functionality and how to mitigate the environmental burden. Bioplastics such as polylactide are often discussed as viable alternatives to common plastics. However, research is focused on the lab scale. A grand challenge is the successful translation of achievements in fundamental research to industrial application. In this project, the team wants to bridge this 'valley of death' and bring environmental benign and highly active polymerization catalysts from the laboratory to application. In addition, they plan to enhance the chemical recycling of polylactide with the same catalysts. Via chemical recycling, a selective recovery of monomers from end-of-life plastic in closed-loop processes is enabled. Such a holistic approach shows potential to implement a circular polylactide economy using guanidine-based catalysts as multifunctional tools.

• Prof. Dr. Sonja Herres-Pawlis

  Rheinisch-Westfälische
  Technische Hochschule Aachen
  Fakultät 1
  Fachgruppe Chemie
  Institut für Anorganische Chemie
  Aachen
  

• Prof. Dr.-Ing. Andreas Jupke

  Rheinisch-Westfälische
  Technische Hochschule Aachen
  Fakultät Maschinenwesen
  AVT - Aachener Verfahrenstechnik
  Lehrstuhl für Fluidverfahrenstechnik
  Aachen