Sustainable upcycling of polyethylene waste to compatibilizers and valuable chemicals.

ABSTRACT: Controllable functionalization of polyethylene (PE) waste could generate new polymeric materials that are generally difficult to manufacture sustainably while also addressing the growing plastics waste problem. However, these modifications remain challenging due to the inherent stability of the PE backbone. Non-thermal atmospheric plasma enables molecular activation under mild conditions while utilizing renewable energy but is primarily employed for surface modification, as plasmas do not penetrate the bulk of materials. Herein, controllable bulk oxidative functionalization of PE wax (PEW) and low-density PE (LDPE) of varying molecular weights was achieved, with up to 6 mol% oxygen incorporation, by manipulating melt viscosity. This functionalization was accomplished either through tempera

SUBMITTER: Nguyen DK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12455293 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature