EFRI E3P: Valorization of Plastic Waste via Advanced Separation and Processing

该项目旨在通过关注两个具有挑战性的问题来减少最终进入垃圾填埋场或焚烧炉的废塑料数量以及新产品所需的原始塑料数量：（1）混合塑料废物的分类和（2）回收塑料的价值。高通量自动分拣将通过新型传感器技术和机器学习的结合来实现，传感器技术将记录每件塑料的分子特征，机器学习将在分子特征的基础上，真实的时间识别每件塑料的特定类型。通过将这些新功能与现有技术相结合，一种先进的混合废塑料分拣工艺应运而生，该工艺适用于分拣其他材料，从而也能回收利用。分类塑料的升级循环将通过将选定类型的塑料溶解在对环境负责的溶剂中来实现，以便回收所需类型的塑料（即，聚烯烃），将其与添加剂或杂质分离，并使其适合在新产品中重复使用。聚烯烃的定制化学改性将产生功能蜡，可用作高价值材料的构建块。这项研究有助于提高国家的先进制造能力，并有助于满足消费者的需求和企业的承诺，将高比例的回收塑料纳入其产品。我们组织了一系列有针对性的活动，以促进多样化的学生群体参与研究任务，并与当地社区分享所产生的知识。这个基础工程研究项目的目标是使回收的废塑料比例和回收用于新产品的塑料价值显着增加。两个目标将致力于实现这一目标：（目标1）：高通量多模态传感器识别和塑料废物的自主分拣和（目标2）回收聚烯烃的物理和化学分子增值。Aim 1专注于开发新型光学传感器和先进的机器学习，用于实时，高通量分子水平检测不同类型的塑料。探测能力将与基于视觉的识别和跟踪相结合。将新开发的能力与现有技术相结合，将产生一种先进的分拣工艺，该工艺可在现有的材料回收设施中部署，适用于可变的塑料废物成分，可扩展，可重复使用，并可转移到其他行业。目标2将开发塑料升级回收的物理和化学方法。对环境负责的溶剂将用于通过溶解/沉淀处理含有其他聚合物、添加剂、填料和/或杂质的聚烯烃基塑料来回收原始聚合物。从聚烯烃起始材料，开发了遥爪短链聚乙烯蜡，其可用作高价值材料如长链脂肪族聚酯、交联聚烯烃和增材制造技术用树脂的构建块。该项目产生的基础和应用知识将对应对显著提高全球塑料回收率的重大挑战产生变革性影响。这个巨大的挑战在这里以一种对环境负责、技术上可行、经济上有竞争力和社会上有益的方式来解决。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to reduce both the amount of waste plastic that ends up in landfills or incinerators and the amount of virgin plastic required for new products by focusing on two challenging issues: (1) sorting of mixed plastic waste and (2) valorization of recovered plastic. High-throughput, automated sorting will be accomplished through the combination of novel sensor technology that will register the molecular signature of each piece of plastic, and machine learning that, on the basis of this molecular signature, will identify in real time the specific type of each piece of plastic. From the integration of these new capabilities with existing technologies, an advanced mixed waste plastic sorting process emerges that is adaptable to sorting other materials to enable their recycling as well. Upcycling of sorted plastic will be achieved through dissolution of select types of plastic in environmentally responsible solvents in order to recover the desirable type of plastic (i.e., polyolefins), separate it from additives or impurities, and render it suitable for reuse in new products. Tailored chemical modification of polyolefins will produce functional waxes that can serve as building blocks for high-value materials. This research contributes to the Nation's advanced manufacturing capabilities and helps meet both consumer demand for and corporate commitments to incorporating a high fraction of recycled plastic into their products. A broad range of focused activities are organized to facilitate the participation of a diverse student cohort in the research tasks and the sharing of the knowledge generated with the local community.The objective of this fundamental engineering research project is to enable a significant increase in both the fraction of waste plastic that is being recycled and in the value of plastic recovered for use in new products. Two aims will be pursued toward this objective: (Aim 1): high-throughput multi-modal sensor recognition and autonomous sorting of plastic waste and (Aim 2) physical and chemical molecular valorization of recovered polyolefins. Aim 1 focuses on developing novel optical sensors and advanced machine learning for the real-time, high-throughput molecular-level detection of different types of plastics. The detection capabilities will be coupled with vision-based recognition and tracking. The integration of the newly developed capabilities with existing technologies will result in an advanced sorting process that is deployable in existing materials recovery facilities, adaptable to variable plastic waste composition, scale-able, upgradable, and transferable to other industries. Aim 2 will develop physical and chemical methodologies for the upcycling of plastics. Environmentally responsible solvents will be used for the recovery of pristine polymers via dissolution/precipitation processing of polyolefin-based plastics that incorporate other polymers, additives, fillers, and/or impurities. From a polyolefin starting material, telechelic short-chain polyethylene waxes are developed, which can be used as building blocks for high-value materials such as long-chain aliphatic polyester, cross-linked polyolefins, and resins for additive manufacturing technologies. The fundamental and applied knowledge generated in this project is poised to have a transformative impact on addressing the grand challenge of significantly increasing the global plastic recycling rates. This grand challenge is tackled here in a manner that is environmentally responsible, technically feasible, economically competitive, and societally beneficial.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.