Block copolymer molecular design to address practical limitations to recycling polyolefin blends.

ABSTRACT: Plastics offer innumerable societal benefits but simultaneously contribute to persistent environmental pollution, dominated by polyethylene (PE) and isotactic polypropylene (iPP). Melt blending and reformulating postconsumer PE and iPP into useful materials presents a promising recycling approach. However, such repurposed plastics are generally mechanically inferior due to an inability to efficiently separate polyolefins in mixed waste streams; phase separation of PE and iPP results in brittleness as a consequence of poor interfacial strength. Recently, we demonstrated that a small amount (1 wt%) of a poly(ethylene)-block-poly(ethyl ethylene-ran-ethylene)-block-poly(ethylene) (EXE) triblock copolymer, synthesized by low-cost anionic polymerization

SUBMITTER: Cui S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12305005 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature