Building on previous work on mesoporous PET aerogels, Frederika will investigate how the production process can be simplified, including the possibility of directly drying PET gels from bio-based solvents. Additionally, she will study how polymer properties and processing parameters influence the morphology and pore structure of the resulting aerogels. The project is particularly focused on circular material use. Frederika will explore recycled PET feedstocks, repeated processing cycles, and the recovery and reuse of solvents to determine how material quality can be maintained while reducing resource consumption. In her work, she will also investigate potential routes for integrating highly porous PET aerogel structures into bulk PET materials.
Within the CampusLab, we plan to further develop PET and polypropylene (PP) recycling as a new research topic over the coming year. This development coincides with the arrival and commissioning of our new pyrolysis furnace, which will enable us to explore additional recycling routes for polymeric materials. Frederika’s Master’s thesis therefore represents an important first step toward establishing this broader research direction and exploring how polymer recycling, porous materials, and circular process design can be combined in practice.
