Delaware: Researchers at the University of Delaware and Ergon National Laboratory have discovered a chemical reaction that can turn the rigid plastic material Styrofoam into PEDOT, a valuable conducting polymer.
The breakthrough, reported in the journal ACSAU, suggests that plastic waste can be effectively used in active electrical devices such as silicon-based hybrid solar cells and organic electrochemical transistors.
A team working under the guidance of Dr. Kaiser of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Jamia devised a method to make PEDOT from plastic waste.
The collaboration began after a meeting between Dr. Kaiser and ergone chemist David Kefan, where the two experts suggested that PEDOT could be made by sulfonating polystyrene.
Sulfonation is a process in which a hydrogen atom is replaced by a sulfonic acid. This process is used in many things from dyes to medicines, but the ratio in the reaction is important.
The team of researchers plans to conduct research to further improve the process, which will transform PEDOT and make electrical materials from it.
