Development of 100% Recyclable and Oxygen-Blocking Plastic Material

KAIST Research Team "High-Performance Material to Eliminate Plastic Pollution"

A polymer material that is 100% recyclable, solving the plastic pollution problem and possessing various functions such as oxygen barrier properties, has been developed.

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) announced on the 27th that Professor Hong Soonhyuk and researcher Choi Kyungmin (Ph.D. candidate) from the Department of Chemistry have developed a new high-performance polymer material that is chemically recyclable and capable of implementing a carbon-neutral circular economy cycle.

Developing a polymer material that is recyclable and has excellent water resistance and heat resistance is challenging. It has been a long-standing issue in double-bond exchange polymerization reactions. The research team solved this by utilizing carbonate functional groups that can be synthesized by fixing carbon dioxide, through precise molecular design and engineering.

The developed material has a structural characteristic rich in oxygen-containing functional groups, showing high oxygen barrier properties and high durability under acidic and basic conditions. Additionally, it has high thermal stability above 300°C in the polymer state, allowing processing by various methods such as press molding or solution casting. This recyclable new material with such properties can be used as a high value-added material in food or pharmaceutical packaging, displays, semiconductor devices, and more.

The research team confirmed that the developed material can be recycled with nearly perfect yield into raw materials or high value-added compounds through catalytic decomposition reactions. Furthermore, they demonstrated that it can also be recycled into synthetic fibers and plastic materials such as polyesters, polyamides, polyurethanes, or raw materials for pharmaceutical synthesis through oxidation reactions.

Professor Hong said, “The precise design and synthesis research of fundamental chemical molecules and catalysts will provide core technology to solve the plastic pollution problem and is expected to be an important foundation for developing innovative materials for a sustainable future.”

The research results were published in the international journal Chem on the 21st.

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