Switchable Polymer Manufacturing Delivering Sustainable Products

在英国，仅塑料行业就雇佣了超过17万人，年销售营业额超过235亿英镑，也是英国十大出口产品之一。全球聚合物产量超过3亿吨/年，复合年增长率为5- 10%。今天，几乎所有的聚合物都来自石油/天然气，既不能化学回收，也不能生物降解。现有的聚合物制造工厂针对单一产品进行了优化，并且由于建造工厂所需的非常高的资本支出，因此它们的寿命必须尽可能长。为单一产品设计的现有工艺的一个缺点是，它们阻碍了创新，减缓了阶跃变化产品的推出。在该提案中，一种新的制造工艺允许单体混合物选择性聚合，以选择性地提供全新类型的可持续材料。该方法仅需要一个反应器，其被重新配置以拨选具有可控结构和组成的所需产物的多种组合。该奖学金为详细调查和开发制造概念以及对三个高科技，高价值领域的产品应用进行新的研究提供了时间，即可回收和可生物降解的热塑性弹性体，用于机器人的形状记忆塑料和用于生物分子治疗的输送剂。该研究的基础是有效利用可再生资源，如二氧化碳和生物衍生单体，聚合物旨在实现有效的寿命终了回收和生物降解。通过应用现有的商品单体，如环氧丙烷和马来酸酐，加速了结果的工业化和转化。该奖学金允许PI学习新技能并建立合作，这将通过定期休假和借调来实现。它还允许密切的工业合作和监督，以重新配置聚合物制造，生产可持续的高价值材料，以满足现有和未来的工业需求。

In the UK, the plastic industry alone employs >170,000 people and has an annual sale turnover of >£23.5 billion, it is also one of the top 10 UK exports. Worldwide polymer production volumes exceed 300 Mt/annum, with CAGR of 5-10%. Today almost all polymers are sourced from oi/gas and are neither chemically recycled nor biodegradable. Existing polymer manufacturing plants are optimized for a single product and because of the very high capital expenditure required to build plants their lifetimes must be as long as possible. One drawback of existing processes designed for a single product is that they hinder innovation and slow the introduction of step-change products. In this proposal a new manufacturing process allows monomer mixtures to be selectively polymerized to selectively deliver completely new types of sustainable materials. The process requires just one reactor which is re-configured to dial-up multiple combinations of desirable products with controllable structures and compositions. This fellowship allows time for detailed investigation and development of the manufacturing concept as well as new research into product applications in three high-tech, high-value sectors, namely as recyclable and biodegradable thermoplastic elastomers, shape-memory plastics for robotics and delivery agents for biomolecule therapies. The research is underpinned by the efficient use of renewable resources, such as carbon dioxide and bio-derived monomers, and the polymers are designed for efficient end-of-life recycling and biodegradation. By applying existing commodity monomers, such as propene oxide and maleic anhydride, industrialization and translation of the results is accelerated. The fellowship allows the PI to learn new skills and build collaborations which will be realized through regular sabbaticals and secondments. It also allows the close industrial collaboration and oversight to re-configure polymer manufacturing to produce sustainable, high value materials to meet existing and future industrial needs.