Commodity polymer materials are now required to be environmentally friendly due to problems associated with resource depletion and low recycling rates, which has promoted the development of circular material systems. Herein, a novel concept is introduced, where a polymer is used as a source of a fertilizer. To demonstrate the viability of this concept, the chemical recycling of poly(isosorbide carbonate) (PIC) is presented as a model for the next generation of plastic-recycling systems. PIC, a bio-based polymer known for its excellent physical properties, undergoes a degradation reaction with aqueous ammonia. Monitoring the degradation behavior by ¹H NMR and FT-IR spectroscopy as well as gel-permeation chromatography revealed that PIC completely decomposes within 6 h at 90 °C to afford isosorbide and urea. The utility of isosorbide and urea obtained from the degradation of PIC as fertilizers was demonstrated via plant-growth experiments. The generation of fertilizers via polymer degradation in the present study is expected to lead not only to innovative chemical recycling systems to address the environmental problems associated with polymer materials, but also to provide solutions to the food-production problems associated with the growth of the global population.

中文翻译：

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塑料化肥：生物基聚碳酸酯的化学回收作为肥料来源

由于资源枯竭和回收率低的问题，现在要求商品聚合物材料对环境友好，这促进了循环材料系统的发展。在此，引入了一个新概念，其中将聚合物用作肥料的来源。为了证明这一概念的可行性，聚（碳酸异山梨醇酯）（PIC）的化学回收被提出作为下一代塑料回收系统的模型。PIC 是一种以其优异的物理特性而闻名的生物基聚合物，它会与氨水发生降解反应。监测退化行为¹H NMR 和 FT-IR 光谱以及凝胶渗透色谱表明，PIC 在 90°C 下 6 小时内完全分解，得到异山梨醇和尿素。通过植物生长实验证明了从PIC 降解中获得的异山梨醇和尿素作为肥料的效用。本研究中通过聚合物降解产生肥料预计不仅会导致创新的化学回收系统来解决与聚合物材料相关的环境问题，而且还会为与全球经济增长相关的粮食生产问题提供解决方案。人口。