IBM, Stanford University Unveil Research on Plastics

In a paper published in the American Chemical Society journal, Macromolecules, scientists from IBM and Stanford University have provided detailed discoveries that the two say could lead to the development of new types of biodegradable, biocompatible plastics.

The result of a multi-year research effort, the breakthrough could lead to a new recycling process that the article claims has the potential to significantly increase the ability to recycle and reuse common PET and plant-based plastics in the future.

Further, the announcement may have sustainability implications across a wide range of industries including biodegradable plastics, plastics recycling, healthcare and microelectronics.

A release by IBM notes that IBM and Stanford scientists are pioneering the application of organocatalysis to green polymer chemistry, which represents a fundamental shift in the field. This discovery and new approach using organic catalysts could lead to well-defined, biodegradable molecules made from renewable resources in an environmentally responsible way.

“We're exploring new methods of applying technology and our expertise in materials science to create a sustainable, environmentally sound future,” says Josephine Cheng, IBM fellow and VP, IBM Research - Almaden. “The development of new families of organic catalysts brings more versatility to green chemistry and opens the door for novel applications, such as making biodegradable plastics, improving the recycling process and drug delivery.”

IBM also is collaborating with scientists from King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology to develop the recycling process for polyethylene terephthalate plastics.

The paper, Organocatalysis: Opportunities and Challenges for Polymer Synthesis, outlines how and why organocatalysis provides new opportunities for the preparation of sustainable plastics.  Through the introduction of organic catalysis to synthetic polymer chemistry, scientists have developed a broadly applicable technology with demonstrations in a diverse range of polymerization techniques and monomer types.

A major focus of the efforts has been on ring-opening polymerization, a strategy dominated by metal oxide or metal hydroxide catalysts. They have shown that organic catalysts both exhibit activities that rival the most active metal-based catalysts, and provide access to polymer architectures that are difficult to access by conventional approaches.

The paper outlines the development of several new families of highly active, environmentally benign organic catalysts for the conversion of renewable resources to products that exhibit cost/performance characteristics comparable to existing materials.

The paper also describes recycling or degradation strategies that would enable a "closed-loop" life cycle for materials that meet the needs of the marketplace while helping to minimize the environmental footprint left for future generations. 

Additionally, the team has developed a new strategy for the synthesis of high molecular weight cyclic polyesters and the generation of new families of biocompatible polymers for biomedical applications.