At this QUBIC Seminar, learn all about strategies to better make and recycle polymers!

Advancing Polymer Synthesis and Recycling with Computational Chemistry

Speaker: Dr Asja Kroeger (Flinders University)
Date: Thursday March 26, 1pm – 2pm AEDT
Zoom: Click here to join the seminar

Abstract:
Chances are, as you are reading this abstract, you are looking at some form of polymer product. You are likely wearing a product of polymer chemistry, and you are probably even sitting on a product of polymer chemistry. Over the last century, polymers have transformed our quality of life, making healthcare safer, transportation cheaper, and our food last longer. However, this has come at a significant cost: Traditional plastic manufacturing is among the most resource-intensive industries and without meaningful recycling, plastic waste continues to accumulate in the environment. To tackle this, we need to design better strategies of making and recycling polymers. In this talk, I will provide an overview of recent work in the Coote group using computational methods to better understand polymerization and depolymerization processes. I will show how, using electrostatic catalysis, we may be able to replace traditional explosive radical initiators with commonplace acids and how controlled radical depolymerization may provide a stepping stone on the path towards a circular economy of polymers.

Bio:
Dr Asja Kroeger is a postdoctoral researcher at Flinders University in the group of Prof. Michelle Coote. Her research uses quantum chemical methods to shed light on the intricacies of chemical reactions – from small molecule syntheses to polymerizations and supramolecular processes. She has authored 27 publications in journals including Nature Synthesis and Angewandte Chemie. She earned her PhD from the University of Western Australia where she was awarded a competitive Forrest Research Foundation Scholarship and in 2023 received the Royal Australian Chemical Institute Cornforth Medal for her PhD thesis on the relevance of noncovalent π-interactions in catalysis.