From wood waste to recyclable plastic

A future when tough polymer resins and composites such as those found in wind turbine blades could be made entirely from plant-based, recyclable components just got a little closer. Researchers led by Katalin Barta at the University of Graz have designed a new thermoset polymer, derived from wood, that can be broken down in methanol with no added catalyst ( Science 2024, DOI: 10.1126 /science.adj9989 ). Thermoset polymers have cross-linked networks that make them exceptionally tough and useful materials. But they are also practically impossible to break down or recycle. And one of the most common thermoset plastics, epoxy-amine resins, are typically made using bisphenol A (BPA) , which is an endocrine disruptor. Plenty of researchers have tried making degradable thermoset plastics by incorporating functional groups whose bonds can be severed by a catalyst or other external trigger . Barta and coworkers designed their new biobased epoxy-amine polymer similarly, with