Unlocking Dual Recycling in Photo-Curable Polycyanurate Thermosets Derived from Bio-Resources

Area of Science:

• Polymer Chemistry
• Materials Science
• Sustainable Chemistry

Background:

• Polycyanurate thermosets offer excellent thermal and mechanical properties for high-performance applications.
• Their crosslinked structure traditionally prevents recycling, posing sustainability challenges.
• Recent advances show dynamic rearrangement can enable thermoset reversibility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop recyclable polycyanurate thermosets using a bio-derived monomer.
• To establish efficient chemical recycling pathways for these materials.
• To demonstrate the potential for closed-loop recycling in high-performance thermosets.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of a bio-derived cyanurate monomer from eugenol.
• Polymerization via thiol-ene photopolymerization to create thermoset networks.
• Utilizing nucleophilic aromatic substitution (S_NAr) chemistry for depolymerization and recycling.

Main Results:

• Successful synthesis and polymerization of bio-derived cyanurate thermosets.
• Two distinct recycling pathways demonstrated: selective monomer recovery and closed-loop polymer regeneration.
• Regenerated polymers retained original thermal, mechanical, and thermomechanical properties.

Conclusions:

• A sustainable design strategy for closed-loop recycling of high-performance thermosets was established.
• The developed approach offers a scalable pathway toward circular polymer materials.
• Recyclable polycyanurate thermosets exhibit robust properties and efficient recyclability.