The NSF Center for Sustainable Polymers aims to establish foundational chemical principles that enable the efficient and economical conversion of natural and abundant molecules into tomorrow’s advanced polymers.
We approach this challenge through three interrelated Grand Challenge Project Areas:
Efficient and sustainable conversion of biomass to polymer ingredients
CSP researchers will discover new, efficient, non-toxic, and often catalytic chemical transformations of biomass and other natural product-based feedstocks into both new and established polymer ingredients.
High-performance sustainable plastics and elastomers
CSP researchers will discover new sustainable polymers with precisely controlled molecular structures, and establish relationships between structure, morphology and performance properties.
Sustainable polymer degradation, chemical recycling, and compatibilization
CSP researchers will discover sustainable polymers with capabilities for triggered degradation, chemical recycling, and compatibilizers to improve upon the existing end-of-life for most polymers.
OVERVIEW
CSP researchers work to discover new, efficient, non-toxic, and catalytically mediated chemical transformations of biomass and other natural product-based feedstocks into both established and new polymer ingredients.
RESEARCH PORTFOLIO
Organic, inorganic, and biosynthetic chemistry
FOCUS: Scalable, catalytic conversions of relevant and readily available small molecules; “Rewiring” industrially tractable microbial hosts to create a diverse array of polymer precursors by processes amenable to scale-up for industrial bioreactors.
FEATURE PUBLICATIONS
- Lau, M.; Kim, S. -S.; Lillie, L. M.; Tolman, W. B.; Reineke, T. M.; Ellison, C. J. Structural basis for the different mechanical behaviors of two chemically analogous, carbohydrate-derived thermosets. ACS Macro Lett. 2021, 10, 609-615.
- Pang, Y.; Ardagh, M. A.; Shetty, M.; Chatzidimitriou, A.; Kumar, G.; Vlaisavljevich, B.; Dauenhauer, P. J. On the spatial design of co-fed amines for selective dehydration of methyl lactate to acrylates. ACS Catal. 2021, 11, 5718–5735.
- Weiss, A. M.; Macke, N.; Zhang, Y.; Calvino, C.; Esser-Kahn, A. P.; Rowan, S. J. In vitro and in vivo analyses of the effects of source, length, and charge on the cytotoxicity and immunocompatibility of cellulose nanocrystals. ACS Biomateri. Sci. Eng. 2021 7, 1450–1461.
- Rangamani, A.; Alabi, C. A. Effect of backbone and end-group regioisomerism on thermomechanical properties of vanillin-based polyurethane networks. Polym. Chem. 2021, 12, 1526–1532.
- Weissner, T. C.; Fosu, S. A.; Parveen, R.; Rath, N. P.; Vlaisavljevich, B.; Tolman, W. B. Ligand effects on decarbonylation of palladium-acyl complexes. Organometallics 2020, 39, 3992–3998.
- Wu, C.; Klemes, M. J.; Trang, B.; Dichtel, W. R.; Helbling, D. E. Exploring the factors that influence the adsorption of anionic PFAS on conventional and emerging adsorbents in aquatic matrices. Water Research 2020, 182, 115950.
- Sajjad, H.; Lillie, L. M.; Lau, C. M.; Ellison, C. J.; Tolman, W. B.; Reineke, T. M. Degradable polyanhydride networks derived from itaconic acid. Polym. Chem. 2021, 12, 608–617.
- Lu, Y.; Swisher, J. H.; Meyer, T. Y.; Coates, G. W. Chirality-directed Regioselectivity: An approach for the synthesis of alternating poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid). J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 4119–4124.
- Saxon, D. J.; Gormong, E. A.; Shah, V. M.; Reineke, T. M. Rapid synthesis of chemically recyclable polycarbonates from renewable feedstocks. ACS Macro Lett. 2021, 10, 98–103.
- Swartz, J. L; Li, R. L.; Dichtel, W. R. Incorporating functionalized cellulose to increase the toughness of covalent adaptable networks. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2020, 12, 44110–44116.
INVESTIGATORS
Michelle Chang
Paul Dauenhauer
William Dichtel
Northwestern
Research Interests: COFs; Crystaline Films; 2D Polymers; Water Purification; Nanostructured Materials
View ProfileJennifer Dunn
Northwestern
Research Interests: Emerging technologies and their energy and environmental impacts
View ProfileBrett Fors
Cornell
Research Interests: Development of new synthetic methods and catalyst systems to control polymer architecture, composition, and function
View ProfileMarc Hillmyer
Thomas Hoye
Theresa Reineke
Minnesota
Research Interests: The synthetic design, chemical characterization, and biological study of sophisticated macromolecules.
View ProfileWilliam Tolman
Ian Tonks
Minnesota
Research Interests: Designing new organometallic catalytic reactions that use Earth-abundant metals
View ProfileBess Vlaisavljevich
South Dakota
Research Interests: Computational studies of the decarbonylation of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMES) – Catalysis involving multiple metal centers – Complex electronic structure
View ProfileHIGH-PERFORMANCE SUSTAINABLE PLASTICS AND ELASTOMERS
OVERVIEW
CSP researchers work to discover new sustainable polymers with precisely controlled molecular structures and to establish crucial relationships between chemical structure, morphology, and performance properties.
RESEARCH PORTFOLIO
Catalysis, high-throughput experimentation, theoretical studies, mechanistic studies of polymerization processes, polymer properties, polymer morphology
FOCUS: Broaden the scope of existing polymerization strategies and develop entirely new methods to discover new sustainable polymers with advanced properties that are better than their petroleum-based counterparts.
FEATURE PUBLICATIONS
- Ishibashi, J. S. A.; Pierce, I. C.; Chang, A. B.; Zografos, A.; El-Zaatari, B. M.; Fang, Y.; Weigand, S. J.; Bates, F. S.; Kalow, J. A. Mechanical and structural consequences of associative dynamic cross-linking in acrylic diblock copolymers. Macromolecules 2021, Article ASAP.
- Ogawa, R.; Hillmyer, M. A. High molar mass poly(ricinoleic acid) via entropy-driven ring-opening metathesis polymerization. Polym. Chem. 2021, 12, 2253–2257.
- Rosenbloom, S. I.; Sifri, R. J.; Fors, B. P. Achieving molecular weight distribution shape control and broad dispersities using RAFT polymerizations. Polym. Chem. 2021, Advance Article.
- Gu, L.; Macosko C. W. Evaluating PE/PLA interfacial tension using ternary immiscible polymer blends. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2021, 1-5.
- Gormong, E. A.; Wentzel, M. T.; Cao, B.; Kundel, L. N.; Reineke, T. M.; Wissinger, J. E. Exploring divergent green reaction media for the copolymerization of biobased monomers in the teaching laboratory. J. Chem Educ. 2020, 98, 559–566.
- McCutcheon, C. J.; Zhao, B.; Jin, K.; Bates, F. S.; Ellison, C. J. Crazing mechanism and physical aging of poly(lactide) toughened with poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(butylene oxide) diblock copolymers. Macromolecules 2020, 53, 10163–10178.
- Popowski, Y.; Moreno, J. J.; Nichols, A. W.; Hooe, S. L.; Bouchey, C. J.; Rath, N. P.; Machan, C. W.; Tolman, W. B. Mechanistic insight into intiation and regioselectivity in the copolymerization of epoxides and anhydrides by Al complexes. Chem. Commun. 2020, 56, 14027–14030.
- Varner, T. P.; Teator, A. J.; Reddi, Y.; Jacky, P. E.; Cramer, C. J.; Leibfarth, F. A. Mechanistic insight into the stereoselective cationic polymerization of vinyl ethers. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 17175–17186.
- Ching, C.; Klemes, M. J.; Trang, B.; Dichtel, W. R.; Helbling, D. E. β-cyclodextrin polymers with different cross-linkers and ion-exchange resins exhibit variable adsorption of anionic, zwitterionic, and nonionic PFASs. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2020, 54, 12693–12702.
- Lipinski, B. M.; Walker, K. L.; Clayman, N. E.; Morris, L. S.; Jugovic, T. M. E.; Roessler, A. G.; Getzler, Y. D. Y. L.; MacMillan, S. N.; Zare, R. N.; Zimmerman, P. M.; Waymouth, R. M.; Coates, G. W. Mechanistic study of isotactic poly(propylene oxide) synthesis using a tethered bimetallic chromium salen catalyst. ACS Catalysis 2020, 10, 8960–8967.
- Shao, H.; Reddi, Y.; Cramer, C. J. Modeling the mechanism of CO2/cyclohexene oxide copolymerization catalyzed by chiral zinc βdiiminates: Factors affecting reactivity and isotacticity. ACS Catal., 2020, 10, 8870–8879.
- Guptill, D. M.; Chinta, B. S.; Kaicharla, T.; Xu, S.; Hoye, T. R. β-Methyl-δ-valerolactone-containing thermoplastic poly(ester-amide)s: Synthesis, mechanical properties, and degradation behavior. Polym. Chem. 2021, 12, 1310–1316.
- Spring, S. W.; Smith-Sweetser, R. O.; Rosenbloom, S. I.; Sifri, R. J.; Fors, B. P. Sustainable thermoplastic elastomers produced via cationic RAFT polymerization. Polym. Chem. 2021, 12, 1097–1104.
INVESTIGATORS
Christopher Alabi
Frank Bates
Michelle Calabrese
Minnesota
Research Interests: Rheology, scattering techniques, and polymer and nanoparticle synthesis
View ProfileGeoffrey Coates
William Dichtel
Northwestern
Research Interests: COFs; Crystaline Films; 2D Polymers; Water Purification; Nanostructured Materials
View ProfileRobert DiStasio
Cornell
Research Interests: Electronic structure theory in complex condense-phase environments
View ProfileBrett Fors
Cornell
Research Interests: Development of new synthetic methods and catalyst systems to control polymer architecture, composition, and function
View ProfileMarc Hillmyer
Jessica Lamb
Anne LaPointe
Theresa Reineke
Minnesota
Research Interests: The synthetic design, chemical characterization, and biological study of sophisticated macromolecules.
View ProfileStuart Rowan
University of Chicago
Research Interests: Polymer Synthesis; Cellulose Nanocrystals; Composites
View ProfileWilliam Tolman
Ian Tonks
Minnesota
Research Interests: Designing new organometallic catalytic reactions that use Earth-abundant metals
View ProfileJane Wissinger
Minnesota
Research Interests: Green chemistry; Renewable polymers; Laboratory experiments
View ProfileSUSTAINABLE POLYMER DEGRADATION, CHEMICAL RECYCLING, AND COMPATIBILIZATION
OVERVIEW
CSP researchers work to discover and establish polymeric architectures that provide superior performance while in use and have innocuous end-lives including controlled degradation, chemical and traditional recycling pathways.
RESEARCH PORTFOLIO
Polymer architecture, degradation, chemical recycling, recycling
FOCUS: Study and improve the performance properties of polymers, in particular as generated by the first two Grand Challenge Project Areas.
FEATURE PUBLICATIONS
- Reisman, L.; Siehr, A.; Horn, J.; Batiste, D. C.; Kim, H. J.; De Hoe, G. X.; Ellison, C. J. Shen, W.; White, E. M.; Hillmyer, M. A. Respirometry and cell viability studies for sustainable polyesters and their hydrolysis products. ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2021, 9, 2736–2744.
- Kim, H. J.; Peng, X.; Shin, Y.; Hillmyer, M. A.; Ellison, C. J. Blend miscibility of poly(ethylene terephthalate) and aromatic polyesters from salicylic acid. J. Phys. Chem. B. 2021, 125, 1, 450-460.
- De Rosa, C.; Malafronte, A.; Di Girolamo, R.; Auriemma, F.; Scoti, M.; Ruiz de Ballesteros, O.; Coates, G. W. Morphology of isotactic polypropylene-polyethylene block copolymers driven by controlled crystallization. Macromolecules 2020, 53, 10234–10244.
- Klemes, M. J.; Skala, L. P.; Ateia, M.; Trang, B.; Helbling, D. E.; Dichtel, W. R. Polymerized molecular receptors as adsorbents to remove micropollutants from water. Acc. Chem. Res. 2020, 53, 2314-2324.
- Klimovica, K.; Pan, S.; Lin, T.-W.; Peng, X.; Ellison, C. J.; LaPointe, A. M.; Bates, F. S.; Coates, G. W. Compatibilization of iPP/HDPE blends with PE-g–iPP graft copolymers. ACS Macro Lett. 2020, 9, 1161–1166.
- Elling, B. R.; Dichtel, W. R. Reprocessable cross-linked polymer networks: Are associative exchange mechanisms desirable? ACS Cent. Sci., 2020 1488–1496.
- Ertem, S. P.; Onuoha, C. E.; Wang, H.; Hillmyer, M. A.; Reineke, T. M.; Lodge, T. P.; Bates, F. S. Hydrogenolysis of linear low-density polyethylene during heterogeneous catalytic hydrogen-deuterium exchange. Macromolecules 2020, 53, 6043–6055.
- Altay, E.; Jang, Y.-J.; Kua, X. Q.; Hillmyer, M. A. Synthesis, microstructure, and properties of high-molar-mass polyglycolide copolymers with isolated methyl defects. Biomacromolecules 2021, Article ASAP.
- Kim, H. J.; Jin, K.; Shim, J.; Dean, W.; Hillmyer, M. A.; Ellison, C. J. Sustainable triblock copolymers as tunable and degradable pressure sensitive adhesives. ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2020, 12036–12044.
INVESTIGATORS
Frank Bates
Michelle Calabrese
Minnesota
Research Interests: Rheology, scattering techniques, and polymer and nanoparticle synthesis
View ProfileGeoffrey Coates
William Dichtel
Northwestern
Research Interests: COFs; Crystaline Films; 2D Polymers; Water Purification; Nanostructured Materials
View ProfileJennifer Dunn
Northwestern
Research Interests: Emerging technologies and their energy and environmental impacts
View ProfileChristopher Ellison
Brett Fors
Cornell
Research Interests: Development of new synthetic methods and catalyst systems to control polymer architecture, composition, and function
View ProfileMarc Hillmyer
Julia Kalow
Anne LaPointe
Theresa Reineke
University of Minnesota
Research Interests: The synthetic design, chemical characterization, and biological study of sophisticated macromolecules.
View ProfileStuart Rowan
University of Chicago
Research Interests: Polymer Synthesis; Cellulose Nanocrystals; Composites
View ProfileWilliam Tolman
Washington University in St. Louis
Research Interests: Mechanistic studies of polymerization of renewable monomers by metal complexes; development of catalytic methods for conversion of renewable feedstocks to useful monomers.
View ProfileBoya Xiong
Minnesota
Research Interests: Elucidate the fundamental mechanism of polymer degradation
View Profile