Research
The majority of plastic waste is landfilled, burned or leaks to the environment. Unfortunately, only 12 % (by weight) is recycled globally1 mainly because the predominantly applied recycling technique of melting and re-extrusion produces a lower quality plastic.2–6 Therefore, chemical depolymerization of plastic has been studied to produce monomers which can be used to make high-quality plastic again. For polyolefins, however, only a very mixed, low value hydrocarbon stream was obtained thus far.4 This is because thermal cracking of the strong polyolefin bonds evokes random bond scission, uncontrolled further reaction and thus the formation of various products besides monomers.
My research focusses on developing pathways for the low temperature selective chemical recycling of plastic waste to chemical building blocks like aromatics, carboxylic acids and monomers. I am especially interested in using mechanochemistry and catalysis to drive the depolymerization and cracking reactions of polyolefins. Mechanochemistry is a rather less developed field of chemistry where reactions are driven not by thermal energy, electrons or photons but rather by mechanical strain, which can lower the activation energy needed to be overcome for bond cleavage. This strain can, for example, be applied in a ball mill. Heterogeneous catalysts can also lower the activation energy barrier and improve selectivity to commercially interesting products like aromatics.
Extending the bonds of polymers by force, e.g. in a ball mill can assist their cleavage and help to depolymerize them at lower temperatures.
(1) The Ellen MacArthur Foundation. The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the Future of Plastic&Catalysing Action; 2013; Vol. 52.
(2) Jansson, A.; Möller, K.; Gevert, T. Degradation of Post-Consumer Polypropylene Materials Exposed to Simulated Recycling—Mechanical Properties. Polym. Degrad. Stab. 2003, 82 (1), 37–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0141-3910(03)00160-5.
(3) Canevarolo, S. V. Chain Scission Distribution Function for Polypropylene Degradation during Multiple Extrusions. Polym. Degrad. Stab. 2000, 70(1), 71–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0141-3910(00)00090-2.
(4) Ragaert, K.; Delva, L.; Van Geem, K. Mechanical and Chemical Recycling of Solid Plastic Waste. Waste Manag. 2017, 69, 24–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2017.07.044.
(5) Dordinejad, A. K.; Sharif, F.; Ebrahimi, M.; Rashedi, R. Rheological and Thermorheological Assessment of Polyethylene in Multiple Extrusion Process. Thermochim. Acta 2018, 668, 19–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.TCA.2018.08.010.
(6) Bai, C.; Spontak, R. J.; Koch, C. C.; Saw, C. K.; Balik, C. M. Structural Changes in Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) Induced by Mechanical Milling. Polymer (Guildf). 2000, 41 (19), 7147–7157. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0032-3861(00)00048-3.
C.V.
2015 – 2019 PhD at Technical University Delft in Catalysis Engineering
2013 -2015 M.S.CEP Chemical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2009 – 2013 B.Sc. Process Engineering University of Applied Sciences Hamburg
Vollmer, I; Jenks, M J F; Roelands, M C P; White, R J; van Harmelen, T; de Wild, P; van der Laan, G P; Meirer, F; Keurentjes, J T F; Weckhuysen, B M
Beyond Mechanical Recycling: Giving New Life to Plastic Waste Journal Article
In: Angewandte Chemie - International Edition, vol. 59, no. 36, pp. 15402-15423, 2020, (cited By 35).
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Erratum to: Structure–performance descriptors and the role of Lewis acidity in the methanol-to-propylene process (Nature Chemistry, (2018), 10, 8, (804-812), 10.1038/s41557-018-0081-0) Journal Article
In: Nature Chemistry, vol. 10, no. 8, pp. 897, 2018, (cited By 0).
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Structure–performance descriptors and the role of Lewis acidity in the methanol-to-propylene process Journal Article
In: Nature Chemistry, vol. 10, no. 8, pp. 804-812, 2018, (cited By 3).
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Erratum to: Structure–performance descriptors and the role of Lewis acidity in the methanol-to-propylene process (Nature Chemistry, (2018), 10, 8, (804-812), 10.1038/s41557-018-0081-0) Journal Article
In: Nature Chemistry, vol. 10, no. 8, pp. 897, 2018, (cited By 1).
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title = {Erratum to: Structure–performance descriptors and the role of Lewis acidity in the methanol-to-propylene process (Nature Chemistry, (2018), 10, 8, (804-812), 10.1038/s41557-018-0081-0)},
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Structure–performance descriptors and the role of Lewis acidity in the methanol-to-propylene process Journal Article
In: Nature Chemistry, vol. 10, no. 8, pp. 804-812, 2018, (cited By 84).
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Other publications
See earlier publications on Scopus.
