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Catalytic disconnection of C-O bonds in epoxy resins and composites

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift/Konferencebidrag i tidsskrift /Bidrag til avis › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › peer review

DOI

Fibre-reinforced epoxy composites are well established in regard to load-bearing applications in the aerospace, automotive and wind power industries, owing to their light weight and high durability. These composites are based on thermoset resins embedding glass or carbon fibres1. In lieu of viable recycling strategies, end-of-use composite-based structures such as wind turbine blades are commonly landfilled1-4. Because of the negative environmental impact of plastic waste5,6, the need for circular economies of plastics has become more pressing7,8. However, recycling thermoset plastics is no trivial matter1-4. Here we report a transition-metal-catalysed protocol for recovery of the polymer building block bisphenol A and intact fibres from epoxy composites. A Ru-catalysed, dehydrogenation/bond, cleavage/reduction cascade disconnects the C(alkyl)-O bonds of the most common linkages of the polymer. We showcase the application of this methodology to relevant unmodified amine-cured epoxy resins as well as commercial composites, including the shell of a wind turbine blade. Our results demonstrate that chemical recycling approaches for thermoset epoxy resins and composites are achievable.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
TidsskriftNature
Vol/bind617
Nummer7962
Sider (fra-til)730-737
Antal sider8
ISSN0028-0836
DOI
StatusUdgivet - maj 2023

Bibliografisk note

© 2023. The Author(s).

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