How to Apply
Interested in participating in this research project? Contact the professor or graduate student listed below.
Professor
Dr. Li Jia (Polymer Science) | ljia@uakron.edu
Graduate Student
Yiwei Dai
Project Description
“White pollution” is a problem of massive scale. To replace the current nondegradable commodity plastics with degradable plastics, a key challenge is that the new raw materials must be readily available at costs comparable to current monomers such as ethylene and propylene. Low-carbon footprint is highly desirable for these raw materials in order to achieve overall environmental sustainability.
We have recently achieved a breakthrough by introducing the zwitterionic principle of designing Ni(II) catalysts for the carbonylative copolymerization of ethylene and cyclic ethers. The resulting polymer is photolytically degreadable and hydrolytically degradable and hence is degradable in a variety of environments on the surface of earth. The polymer is also chemically recyclable. The project will involve improvement of the catalyst and studying the structure-property relationships of the polymers.
Project Date
Any time
Search Terms
Advanced Materials, Sustainability, For Credit, Non-Credit, Funded, STEM