Title: Catalytic Functionalization and Deconstruction of Polyolefins.
Bio: https://hartwig.cchem.berkeley.edu/john/
Abstract: Every year, we generate 500 billion pounds of new plastics. Most of this material is used in low-value, single use applications of polyethylene, polypropylene, and to a lesser degree polyethylene terephthalate. Determining how to enable polyolefins to be used for higher value applications, how to imbue these materials with functional groups that could facilitate recycling, and how to install functionality that can trigger deconstruction are current topics in the growing field of catalytic polyolefin upcycling. In this seminar, I will present our early results on polyolefin functionalization and current results on a variety of transformations of polyolefins that install functional groups to change properties and that enable deconstruction to a single product (propylene) in high demand.
Host: Prof. Zach Wickens