| Plastics have been a valuable commodity for society, but their effects on the environment
can be detrimental as they become waste. To combat the buildup of plastic waste,
methods such as incineration and recycling have been employed but are not enough to
effectively manage waste. Upcycling is a potentially useful method that can break plastic
waste down into smaller molecules, collected to be used as feedstock, and used to
produce a wide array of new, better products without requiring completely new starting
materials. This research aims to examine the ability to use high-energy gamma radiation
to break chemical bonds in novel compounds modeling ester and carbonate polymers to
observe how sterics and electronics affect degradation for use in upcycling efforts.
Synthesized model compounds were characterized using 1H and 13C NMR and GC/MS
while post irradiation analysis utilized only GC/MS. Results gathered indicated that the
model compounds were able to degrade in DCM at high doses of gamma radiation and in
EtOH with an alumina catalyst at moderate doses while also forming irradiation products.
These results show that there is a potential for solvents like EtOH and catalysts to be used
in chemical recycling/upcycling processes that can break down polymers into smaller
molecules.
Key Words: plastic waste, upcycling, degradation, gamma radiation, polymer, ester, carbonate |