Le jeudi 8 décembre 2022, Fabiana SIRAGUSA présentera l'examen en vue de l’obtention du grade académique de Docteur en Sciences (Collège de doctorat en Chimie) sous la direction de Christophe DETREMBLEUR et Gwilherm EVANO (co-tutelle avec l’ULB).

Cette épreuve consistera en la défense publique d’une dissertation intitulée :

« Editing sustainable (and circular) polymers from CO₂ and renewables  ».

Abstract

Plastics have become one of the most important products of our daily life. Thanks to their ease of production and processing, low cost and customizable properties, plastics are found in most of application sectors.  However, they are mainly produced from petroleum and contaminate the environment when not properly recycled. As carbon dioxide (CO₂) is available everywhere at large quantity and low cost, its utilization as a substitute to petroleum is expected to limit our dependency to this depleting fossil resource, while permitting the on-site manufacturing of the next generation of more sustainable plastics.

The aim of this PhD thesis, carried out in the frame of the EoS project “BIOFACT”, is to merge innovative CO₂ transformations with bio-based molecules to produce greener polymers. With the aim of circular economy in mind, special attention is also devoted to the exploration of end-of-life options for these polymers by investigating chemical degradations via solvolysis or via novel approaches of polymers skeletal-editing.

Le Jury sera composé de :

Mme C. JEROME (Présidente), Mme et MM. C. DETREMBLEUR (Promoteur), G. EVANO (Promoteur ULB), Y. GEERTS (ULB) (Secrétaire), J.F. GOHY (UCLouvain), R. HOOGENBOOM (UGhent), K. ODELIUS (KTH, Stockholm).
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