Mechanochemistry adds fluorine to discarded polystyrene
Proof-of-concept trifluoromethylation study attempts post-consumer plastic waste challenge
Scientists in the US have shown how a mechanochemical method – liquid-assisted ball mill grinding – can be used to functionalise post-consumer polystyrene. The team behind the work suggest it could be developed to upcycle commercial polymers by altering the polymer backbone. But other researchers are sceptical that such a process would ever be truly useful or sustainable.