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SUMMARY:A Holistic Approach to Developing Next-Generation Sustainable Polym
 ers
LOCATION:Chemistry A101
TZID:America/Denver
DTSTART:20241122T160000
UID:2026-03-15-23-57-12@natsci.colostate.edu
DTSTAMP:20260315T235712
Description:About the Seminar:\n\nSustainable polymers must be the future. 
 A working definition of a sustainable plastic is one that is produced from
  renewable or recovered or waste feedstocks using energy efficient process
 es that minimize water use\, greenhouse gas emissions\, and other forms of
  pollution. Over its life cycle\, a sustainable plastic generates negligib
 le amounts of waste and can be practically recycled\, reprocessed\, or rec
 laimed after use. A full life cycle assessment of a new sustainable polyme
 r technology is thus critical to make informed decisions about the potenti
 al integrated benefits for society. In early stages of sustainable polymer
  development\, this is often not possible given the focus on the research 
 needed to move a potential technology forward. However\, there is a clear 
 need to address at least four major questions when developing new sustaina
 ble polymers: where do the polymers come from\, how are they made\, how do
  they perform\, and what are its end-of-use scenarios. Promoting a circula
 r economy depends critically on the answers to all of these questions. In 
 this presentation I will emphasize our work on aliphatic polyester block p
 olymers for resilient elastomers and tough plastics with an emphasis on ad
 dressing these questions in a holistic manner. Solutions to the global pla
 stics require such comprehensive investigations to practically realize the
  next generation of sustainable plastics.\n\nAbout the Speaker:\n\nMarc Hi
 llmyer received his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Florida in 19
 89 and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology 
 in 1994. After completing a postdoctoral research position in the Universi
 ty of Minnesota’s Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Scien
 ce he joined the Chemistry faculty at Minnesota in 1997. He is currently t
 he McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in Chemistry and leads a research g
 roup focused on the synthesis and self-assembly of multifunctional polymer
 s. In addition to his teaching and research responsibilities\, Marc served
  as an associate editor for the ACS journal Macromolecules from 2008-2017 
 and is currently the editor-in-chief of Macromolecules. He is also the dir
 ector of the Center for Sustainable Polymers headquartered at the Universi
 ty of Minnesota\, a National Science Foundation Center for Chemical Innova
 tion. 4:00 pm
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