We seek an understanding of polymer reactivity that takes into account macromolecular behavior and phenomena to control how plastic waste can be transformed into useful materials. We develop catalysts and processes to introduce functionality on polyolefins, which improves their properties. We also develop plastics, elastomers, thermosets, and composites that are more recyclable by design.

Selected publications:

Xu, Z.; Witko, M. L.; Zheng, H.; Im, J.; Haber, S.; Ghosh, A.; Venetos, M. C.; Reimer, J. A.; Persson, K. A.; Helms, B. A. "Resin-To-Resin Circularity in Chemical Recycling of Dicyclopentadiene-Based Cycloolefin Resins" J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2025, 147, 25613–25621 [pdf]

Demarteau, J.; Epstein, A. R.; Reed, L. J.; Ciccia, N. R.; Hartwig, J. F.; Persson, K. A.; Helms, B. A. "Circularity in polydiketoenamine thermoplastics via control over reactive chain conformation" Sci. Adv. 2025, 11 (4), eads8444 [pdf]

Hua, M.; Peng, Z.; Guha, R. D.; Ruan, X.; Ng, K. C.; Demarteau, J.; Haber, S.; Fricke, S. N.; Reimer, J. A.; Salmeron, M. B.; Persson, K. A.; Wang, C.; Helms, B. A. "Mechanochemically accelerated deconstruction of chemically recyclable plastics" Sci. Adv. 2024, 10, eadq3801 [pdf]