Biomimicry, biodegradability and (bio)recyclability of polymers: challenges and opportunities

Abstract of Christophe Chassenieux's presentation

Proteins as new sources of materials

Beyond their everyday use in our diet, proteins are also functional building blocks that can be used to obtain materials with properties of interest. For example, milk casein has been the source of plastics such as galalith since the 19th century. Proteins can be seen as sticky spheres whose self-assembly, when considered alone or in combination with polysaccharides, leads to materials (hydrogels, emulsions, suspensions, capsules,...) that are sources of food, packaging or therapeutic vectors. I will illustrate the potential of several types of protein. The environmental footprint in terms of carbon footprint, water consumption and soil eutrophication, not to mention the animal welfare involved in their production, are all parameters to be taken into account, giving plant-derived proteins the edge.

Christophe Chassenieux

Christophe Chassenieux obtained his PhD in chemistry and physical chemistry from the Université du Maine (Le Mans) in 1997. He then worked as a postdoctoral fellow in Prof. M. A. Winnik's team at the University of Toronto on surfactant/polyelectrolyte complexes. He was recruited as Maître de Conférences at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie and at the LPCM of ESPCI in Paris in 1998, where he obtained his habilitation to direct research in 2004. He was promoted to Professor at the Institut des Molécules et Matériaux du Mans in Le Mans in 2005. He is interested in the self-assembly of amphiphilic polymers and proteins, leading to complex fluids whose structural and rheological properties he seeks to control from the molecular to the macroscopic scale. More recently, he is seeking to understand plastic pollution of the oceans by clarifying the mechanisms at work in the fragmentation of macroplastics into smaller objects. He is the co-author of 130 publications, two books and 4 patents.

Abstract from Daniel Taton's presentation

Commodity polymers such as polyethylene and polystyrene are renowned for their robustness and chemical inertness. However, these same properties make them recalcitrant to any attempt at chemical deconstruction, posing a major challenge in terms of recyclability. To circumvent this obstacle, innovative strategies aim to introduce degradable motifs within these polymers while preserving their performance, or to break them down directly by targeted chemical processes. Three strategies are emerging : (1) the introduction of brittle points by chemical post-modification in commodity polymers, (2) copolymerization with integrated comonomers from the synthesis stage to program their future deconstruction, and (3) direct chemical deconstruction approaches. These evolving methodologies open up new prospects for rethinking the end-of-life of polymers previously considered unalterable. This presentation will explore these strategies, highlighting the scientific and technological challenges involved in making these robust yet recalcitrant materials finally accessible to chemical degradation. The stakes are high : making the degradation of polymers historically considered unalterable controllable, and thus paving the way for more sustainable management of these ubiquitous materials.

Daniel Taton

Daniel Taton obtained his PhD in 1994 from Pierre-et-Marie-Curie University (Paris 6). He is a professor at the University of Bordeaux and develops his research activities at the Laboratoire de chimie des polymères organiques (LCPO), of which he has been deputy director since 2018. His work lies at the interface of molecular chemistry, polymerization catalysis and macromolecular engineering. In particular, he is interested in using organic catalysts to access a variety of metal-free specialty polymers. His team has also developed recyclable polymer supports for catalyst compartmentalization, enabling unique catalytic activity in benchmark molecular chemistry reactions, including in aqueous media. More recently, he has initiated a new line of research at LCPO concerning the post-modification and chemical recycling/supercycling of polymers known for their robustness, but considered recalcitrant to a chemical deconstruction process. Daniel Taton is co-author of nearly one hundred and seventy publications in peer-reviewed journals, fifteen book chapters and is co-inventor of over twenty patents.