The search for biomass-based substitutes for fossil-based plastics has become a pressing task due to the severe long-term threats of plastic wastes to the ecosystem. However, the development in this area is strongly impeded by the high cost of biomass separation and the poor processability of unseparated biomass. Herein, we demonstrate, for the first time, an efficient and scalable method to generate greener plastics by directly integrating unseparated biomass waste (i.e., wood powder) with cross-linked covalent adaptable networks. Through a simple compression molding process, the wood biomass and polymer particles can be fused together to form a continuous material, which is endowed with repairability, re-processibility, and closed-loop full recyclability. The method demonstrated in this work paves the way for large scale industrial production of environmentally friendly biomass-based plastics.

Production and zero-waste recycling of biomass-based plastic-like materials

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.