Periodic Reporting for period 1 - REPLAXTIC (Plastic upcycling for sustainable new generation batteries)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2021-06-01 al 2023-05-31
An applied complete library of molecules have been obtained both as discrete electrolites as polymeric electrolites. The results are available at the Polykey, in the laboratory notebooks and the metadata on Zenodo after publication in the respective journals as stated in the proposal. Concluding, a novel procedure for performing the depolymerization of bisphenol-A polycarbonate at low temperatures has been described. It has been demonstrated that the success of this approach is made possible by the use of a solvent that favors the interaction of the catalyst and the polymer and a catalytic system that promotes the cyclisation into cyclic carbonates over the polymerization. It was found that using imidazoles as solvents and catalyst led to complete depolymerization with a high yield of cyclic carbonates around 80% at 50 ºC for 3 h. To date, sustainable routes for the preparation of cyclic carbonates are scarce and quite inefficient, mainly because of the high tendency of them to polymerize. The procedure was extended to other nucleophiles demonstrating the potential of this process to prepare various carbonyl-containing cyclic molecules. Respective polymers have been done and fully characterized, ready as alter ego for the single molecules for lithium ion batteries.
As first part: Laboratory work of organic chemical synthesis has been performed. The obtained molecules have been characterized with the usual methods (like magnetic resonance, infrared spectrometry, ultraviolet-visible spectrometry, etc.). Secondly: Laboratory work of organic chemical synthesis has been performed. The obtained polymers have been characterized via the most used polymer analysis methods like gel permeation chromatography, conductivity, thermogravimetric analysis and magnetic resonance. Finally, the last part, was not done due ante tempore quit of the contract.
This project contributed in the field of cyclic carbonate and polycarbonate materials. The results, even if were partially impacted by the premature quit, will be extremely useful both for POLYKEY, which got the transfer of knowledge of organic chemistry synthesis methods and savoir-faire, and to the researcher, who got the possibility to deep his knowledge in characterization of polycarbonate materials and who stayed in contact with an up-to-date environment with endless support by administration and by the superiors.
During the period the fellow supervised one Ph.D. and one B.Sc. to them and to all the group the fellow transfer the organic chemistry knowledge: design of synthesis, chromatographic column separation of mixtures of molecules, as well as the principal purification method like distillation and thin layer chromatography. The group has trained the student to use the principal polymer chemistry characterization techniques like Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Size Exclusion Chromatography, Atomic Force Microscopy, gel permeation chromatography and differential scanning calorimetry; all this was supported by a parallel training of all the software and instrumental knowledge of up-to-date instruments.
During all the period the fellow was able to manage the finance of his project, getting in touch with the backstage of the academic administration. The immense help that all the administrative staff give to the group in handling the bills and the chemicals orders, included some teaching direct to the fellow, in order to aware him why and how an administrative office exploit the funds and manage the money. Relatively to the scientific part, a repartition of the tasks pushed all the members of the group and so the fellow, to be in charge of one equipment and one category of consumable, this motivates the team building and give a true experience of how to handle a chemistry lab in view of a leading position.
The impact that the fellowship had on the fellow was priceless. The possibility to stay in touch with an up-to-date chemistry laboratory and the many interactions created by simply talks with other members of the group gave to the fellow an international palette of collaborations. The fruitful experience motivates the fellow that applied for other fellowships like the two won and a pending ERC StG. The impact into the curriculum was not only given by the fellowship but also together with the possibility to study Euskara and got an A1 level
During the period the fellow supervised one Ph.D. and one B.Sc. to them and to all the group the fellow transfer the organic chemistry knowledge: design of synthesis, chromatographic column separation of mixtures of molecules, as well as the principal purification method like distillation and thin layer chromatography. The group has trained the student to use the principal polymer chemistry characterization techniques like Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Size Exclusion Chromatography, Atomic Force Microscopy, gel permeation chromatography and differential scanning calorimetry; all this was supported by a parallel training of all the software and instrumental knowledge of up-to-date instruments.
During all the period the fellow was able to manage the finance of his project, getting in touch with the backstage of the academic administration. The immense help that all the administrative staff give to the group in handling the bills and the chemicals orders, included some teaching direct to the fellow, in order to aware him why and how an administrative office exploit the funds and manage the money. Relatively to the scientific part, a repartition of the tasks pushed all the members of the group and so the fellow, to be in charge of one equipment and one category of consumable, this motivates the team building and give a true experience of how to handle a chemistry lab in view of a leading position.
The impact that the fellowship had on the fellow was priceless. The possibility to stay in touch with an up-to-date chemistry laboratory and the many interactions created by simply talks with other members of the group gave to the fellow an international palette of collaborations. The fruitful experience motivates the fellow that applied for other fellowships like the two won and a pending ERC StG. The impact into the curriculum was not only given by the fellowship but also together with the possibility to study Euskara and got an A1 level