PFI-RP: A Novel Plastic Waste Recovery, Based on Environmentally Friendly (Green) Solvents

拟议的创新研究伙伴关系（PFI-RP）项目的这种伙伴关系的更广泛的商业潜力是将塑料废物分离成单一的纯树脂，以便在其原始应用中重复使用，例如食品包装。这一技术解决方案大大减少了垃圾填埋场的塑料废物处理。这种新方法把废物变成了资产。此外，这种新工艺所需的能量比从石油中生产原始树脂低7-10倍，因为所涉及的温度低于当前生产工艺（110-130℃）。由于不使用催化剂，操作成本低于石油基聚合物，并且由于使用化工行业的标准设备，设备成本更低。经济分析表明，该技术在中小型大型工厂中具有成本效益。以下是这项创新的主要好处：(1)防止在堆填区弃置；(2)可回收塑料制品的生产；(3)减少碳足迹；(4)降低成本。此外，社会效益是减少用于垃圾填埋场的土地，减少温室气体的产生，减少海洋塑料，增加材料的可持续性。该项目将使用一系列溶剂分离塑料废物中的大多数树脂，每种溶剂专门溶解一种特定的树脂。这个过程是基于分子动力学计算，阐明溶剂和聚合物之间的相互作用，准确预测和选择特定聚合物的溶剂。该工艺已在实验规模上得到验证。扩大该技术规模的关键技术障碍是整合各种中试规模组件，高溶剂回收率以及向绿色溶剂的使用过渡。相对于竞争对手的主要优势是能够在相对较短的时间内生成任何塑料树脂在任何溶剂中的溶解度曲线。该团队拥有超过1000种溶剂的数据库，包括绿色溶剂。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

The broader commercial potential of this Partnership for the proposed Innovation-Research Partnerships (PFI-RP) project is the separation of plastic wastes into single pure resins to reuse in their original applications, such as food packaging. This technological solution significantly reduces disposal of plastic wastes in landfills. The novel approach turns a waste product into an asset. Further, the energy required for this new process is 7-10 times lower than the production of virgin resins from petroleum because the temperatures involved are lower than those in the current production processes (110-130 oC). The operation cost is lower than the petroleum-based polymers because no catalysts are used and the equipment cost is lower because standard equipment from chemical industry is used. Economic analysis has shown the technology to be cost effective at small-medium-large plant sizes. The following are the main benefits of this innovation: (1) prevention of disposal in landfills; (2) production of recyclable plastic products; (3) reduction of carbon footprint; and (4) lower costs. In addition, the societal benefits are the reduction of land used for landfills, the reduction in greenhouse gas generation, the reduction in ocean plastics, and an increased sustainability of materials.This project will enable the separation of most of the resins in plastic wastes using a sequence of solvents with each solvent specifically dissolving a specific resin. This process is based on molecular dynamic calculations that elucidate the interactions between the solvents and the polymers, accurately predicting and selecting solvents for specific polymers. The process has been verified experimentally at the bench scale. The key technological hurdle in scaling up the technology is integrating the various pilot scale components, high solvent recovery rate, andtransition to the use of green solvents. The main advantage over the competition is the ability to generate solubility curves for any plastic resin in any solvent in a relatively short time. The team has a database of over 1000 solvents, including green solvents.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.