Increasing demand and production of plastics in modern society has resulted in an accumulation of these materials in our landfills and the environment. Our current approach to disposal and recycling are unable to address the growing problem of plastic waste accumulation. As such, developing new methods of synthesizing polymeric materials for chemical circularity is necessary to redirect the linear flow of plastics away from becoming waste. In this work, we have developed a new platform of chemically recyclable polymers, (poly(trithiolanes)), which can be polymerized and depolymerized back to the trithiolane monomer using several methods. These trithiolanes are synthesized from commercially available or bioderived starting materials and an abundant petrochemical waste product, elemental sulfur. With our group’s knowledge in light-driven chemical transformations, a novel method using near-visible wavelengths of light was developed to synthesize trithiolane monomers, enabling mild conditions and simplified purification of the monomer. By establishing this new method, we have been able to expand the scope of available functionalized monomers for this class of polymers.

Light-driven synthesis of 1,2,3-trithiolane monomers for new chemically recyclable sulfur-based polymers

Fall 2022 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch in mid-September.

ACS Fall 2022

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