A team of VyatSU chemists has developed products for processing PET waste

In Russia, production of high-quality heat-insulating materials used plastic bottles will become available. Such a development by Vyatka State University chemists under the leadership of Roman Vesnin - the winner of the track "Science" of the fourth season of the competition of managers "Leaders of Russia", the flagship project of the presidential platform "Russia - a country of opportunities"

A Russian youth corporation received foamed heat and sound insulation materials from used plastic bottles. This, of course, is not just to indicate a number of imported components in the chemical industry, but most importantly, to do this through recycling, that is, from waste. This was announced by the curator of the project - the head of the Department of Chemistry and Technology of Polymer Processing at Vyatka State University, the winner of the track "Science" and the superfinalist of the fourth season of the competition of managers "Leaders of Russia" Roman Vesnin (Kirov).

"The development aims to recycle plastic bottles from various drinks, which remain so common that they have long been an environmental hazard. The position of the scientific community of our university is as follows: polymers must be processed, decomposed into initial components that can be prepared as a source of chemical raw materials. According to this logic, we started working with plastic bottles" - Vesnin said. Vyatka State University has been registering the issues of recycling plastic waste for eight years. At the moment, the process of bottle decomposition in laboratory conditions has been fully developed and experimental use of new materials has been obtained.

"The recycling process is carried out chemically in a closed cycle with minimal amount of waste. In other words, we turn plastic bottles into simple chemicals - monomers, and from them, like bricks, we reassemble new materials. So, we were able to synthesize a wood preservative and viscous resins that can be used in the production of rubber compounds. The most relevant and interesting materials that come with the addition of additional components, these are foamed polyurethanes, require the use of well-known foam rubber. They provide good heat and sound insulation and easily adjustable structure - pore size and stiffness."

Scientists are already paying attention to representatives of the industrial production, interested in the organization of such foamed polyurethanes. This material can be used for thermal insulation of buildings and communications, including pipes, and as foam rubber - in the manufacture of furniture and for packaging.

"With the domestic raw material base there are certain difficulties. Therefore, we propose to replace one of the foreign components of the polyurethane foam with a domestic product, which is also made from waste. We are working with the possibility of manufacturing the first pilot batch materials. I hope that in 2023 it will result in a real product" — noted Roman Vesnin.

About a dozen young scientists became participants in a scientific project to identify plastic bottles. Students of university origin worked under the direct graduate student of the Institute of Chemistry and Ecology of the Vyatka State University Mikhail Vokhmyanin, and commercialization issues were studied by the graduate student of the Institute of Economics and Management Ilya Basharin. During the work on the synthesis of foamed materials, which have been underway since 2018, five master's and one candidate's dissertations have been written and defended. Roman Vesnin explained:

"The project was developed not by gray-haired professors, but by young researchers, motivated by ideas that are in demand on the market for the product. It was not research for the sake of research, but work with practical application in practice in mind, and in this great mindset."

Implementation project with the support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research and the Foundation for the Development of Small Forms of Enterprises in the Scientific and Technical Sphere.

Source: ANO "Russia - a country of opportunities"

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