| Ref.No: | 61519100 |
| Start date: | 03.11.2025 |
| End date: | 02.11.2029 |
| Approval date: | 15.10.2025 |
| Department: | CHEMICAL ENGINEERING |
| Sector: | MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING |
| Financier: | 3Η ΠΡΟΚΗΡΥΞΗ ΕΛΙΔΕΚ ΓΙΑ ΜΕΛΗ ΔΕΠ&ΕΡΕΥΝΗΤΕΣ, ELIDEK |
| Budget: | 281.972,00 € |
| Public key: | Ρ7ΓΙ46ΨΖΣ4-5ΥΔ |
| Scientific Responsible: | Prof. IOANNIS MPOURMPAKIS |
| Email: | gmpourmp@chemeng.ntua.gr |
| Description: | THERMAL DEPOLYMERIZATION OFFERS A PROMISING PATH TO GENERATE COMMODITY CHEMICALS, SUCH AS LOW MOLECULAR WEIGHT OLEFINS,HOWEVER, HOW POLYMERS DECOMPOSE AT DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES AND INTO WHAT FRAGMENTS IS CURRENTLY UNKNOWN. THIS KNOWLEDGE GAP CURRENTLY LIMITS ANY EFFORT TO PRODUCE EFFICIENTLY AND SELECTIVELY HIGH-VALUE CHEMICALS FROM THE DECOMPOSITION OF POLYMERS AND IDENTIFY REACTION CONDITIONS THAT PRODUCE TARGET SPECIES FOR THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY. THIS PROPOSAL FILLS THIS GAP BY DEVELOPING A NOVEL COMPUTATIONAL FRAMEWORK TO ACCURATELY PREDICT THE DEPOLYMERIZATION FRAGMENTS PRODUCED AND THEIR EXACT PRODUCT DISTRIBUTION AS A FUNCTION OF POLYMER STRUCTURE AND REACTION TEMPERATURE. THIS IS ACHIEVED BY CREATIVELY BLENDING DENSITY FUNCTIONAL THEORY CALCULATIONS, MACHINE LEARNING, GRAPH THEORY, STATISTICAL THERMODYNAMICS, AND MICROWAVE-ASSISTED PYROLYSIS EXPERIMENTS THE PROJECT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO IMPACT THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY AND THE ENVIRONMENT A SERIES OF OUTREACH ACTIVITIES HAVE BEEN PLANNED TO ENGAGE THE YOUTH TO COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING AND EDUCATE THE PUBLIC ON PLASTICS RECYCLING |
