EFRI E3P: GOALI: Waste Management and Circularity of Crosslinked Polyurethane Foams

聚氨酯（PU）的全球市场主要以共价交联微孔泡沫（PUF）的形式提供，到2021年将超过500亿美元，占全球塑料总消费量的10%以上（650亿磅）。一个多学科和多机构的团队（包括ASU，弗吉尼亚理工大学，阿迪达斯股份公司，NREL和ORNL）将解决PU和PUFs循环可持续性的基础科学和工程挑战。该小组将共同努力实现以下目标：（1）阐明多孔聚合物固体如PUF中工程催化化学过程的基本设计原理，（2）用伴随的塑料“寿命更新”（ROL）预测工具定量评估可持续性采用和价值评估，以及（3）让代表性不足的群体参与社区伙伴关系机制的设计，以培养具有生态意识的全球意识。这一水平的方法将解决解聚和稳定化问题，同时提供工程工具和指标，以推进国家循环塑料经济，消除报废PU和PUF。解决方案和场景的加速构思将基于物质流分析（MFA）、生命周期评估（LCA）、可持续企业模型、经济模型、社会价值评估以及行星边界框架内的回溯。该团队假设，多孔聚合物固体废物流中的解聚将是能量密集型的，提供更快的动力学，并提供可净化的废物流，将PU/PUF返回市场。这种潜在的循环转化需要对微孔（多孔）固体中的化学过程有基本的了解，从而导致微孔结构和超材料的可编程工程，以增强解聚动力学和优化机械性能。现场监测将标准化的过程中，从不同的聚氨酯成分废物，导致精制产品的平台，精密泡沫制造。PUFs提供了非常明显的社会影响，从泡沫床垫和节能绝缘到纺织品，鞋类，汽车座椅，粘合剂和涂料以及救生生物医学产品。扩大参与的活动将包括与当地废物管理系统建立伙伴关系，以及与当地高中和社区学院进行社区接触，重点是纳入土著和西班牙裔社区。阿迪达斯公司作为项目合作伙伴将启用一个“网络的网络”的方法，将利用亚利桑那州立大学的可持续发展联盟。将建立各种机制，培养创业精神，为研究生提供共同建议，为学生提供与财团合作伙伴的指导，并为学生提供与工业界的实习机会，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的评估，被认为值得支持。影响审查标准。

The global market for polyurethanes (PUs), which are primarily available as covalently crosslinked microcellular foams (PUFs), will exceed $50B in 2021 and represents over 10% (65 billion pounds) of total global plastic consumption. A multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional team (that includes ASU, Virginia Tech, Adidas AG, NREL, and ORNL) will address fundamental science and engineering challenges for PUs and PUFs circular sustainability. The team will collectively tackle the following objectives: (1) elucidation of fundamental design principles for engineering catalytic chemical processes in porous polymeric solids such as PUFs, (2) quantitative assessment of sustainability adoption and valorization with concomitant plastic “renewal-of-life” (ROL) predictive tools, and (3) engagement of underrepresented groups in engineering with mechanisms for community partnership that nurture eco- conscious global awareness.A systems-level approach will address depolymerization and valorization while providing engineering tools and metrics for advancing a national circular plastics economy for the elimination of end-of-life PUs and PUFs. Accelerated ideation of solutions and scenarios will be grounded in material flow analysis (MFA), life cycle assessment (LCA), sustainable enterprise models, economic models, social value assessment, and back-casting within the Planetary Boundaries framework. The team hypothesizes that depolymerization in a porous polymeric solid waste stream will be less energy intensive, offering faster kinetics and providing a purifiable waste stream that returns PUs/PUFs to the marketplace. This potential circular transformation requires fundamental understanding of chemical processes in microcellular (porous) solids, leading to the programmable engineering of microcellular structures and metamaterials for enhanced depolymerization kinetics and optimization of mechanical performance. In- situ monitoring will standardize processes from varied PU compositional waste, leading to refined product with platforms for precision foam manufacturing. PUFs offer highly visible societal impact, ranging from foamed mattresses and energy-saving insulation to textiles, footwear, automobile seating, adhesives and coatings, and life-saving biomedical products. Broadening participation activities will include partnership with local waste management systems, and community engagement with local high schools and community colleges with an emphasis on inclusion of indigenous and Hispanic communities. Adidas AG as a project partner will enable a “network-of-networks” approach that will leverage ASU's Sustainability Consortium. Mechanisms will be put in place to nucleate entrepreneurship, co-advise graduate students, provide student mentorship with consortium partners and student internships with industry, and engagement with ASU Biodesign Europe and partner institutions to nurture sustainability principles with global and cultural awareness.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.