Organic silicon and other siloxane based polymers exist in numerous consumer products, but their popularity is accompanied by a problem: Almost all of these polymers will be thrown into the landfill after being used once. However, groundbreaking research from Bowling Green State University may help change this situation.
Dr. Joe Furgal, Associate Professor of Chemistry at BGSU, is leading a research project on the use of room temperature depolymerization to recover or upgrade recycled organic silicon, thereby keeping them away from landfills and saving a significant amount of energy required to manufacture new polymers.
Furgal said that there is a significant gap in the lifecycle of silicone. There is currently no simple way for consumers to restore materials to their original state and reuse them like other materials after use.
