Critical Need
Accounting for approximately 20 percent of plastic production, thermosets are chemically inert, thermally stable materials with high mechanical integrity. They are often employed in harsh conditions, including as reinforced composites in the aerospace, automotive, and wind industries, and as protective coatings in the electronics industry. The inertness of thermosets makes them attractive in long-term service, but it presents a major challenge to their recycling and separation from valuable raw materials. For example, in 2022, an estimated $91B worth of metals was left unrecovered from discarded thermoset-coated circuitboards, highlighting an untapped resource to mitigate sourcing needs and minimize thermoset waste.

Technology Vision
NextSet Materials’ breakthrough technology introduces a deconstruction handle into existing, traditionally un-recyclable and inseparable industrial thermoset composites. Through a copolymerization process that uses low loadings of cleavable comonomer additives, NextSet Materials enables the deconstruction and separation of the thermosetting polymer from recoverable reinforcing materials—unlocking on-demand deconstruction that is enabled solely under selective chemical conditions. Notably, the introduction of chemically compatible cleavable comonomers into thermoset resin formulations allows for their introduction through a “'drop-in”' strategy, circumventing the need for new industrial plants and workflows.

Potential for Impact
NextSet Materials’ introduction of deconstruction handles in known, industrial thermosets will be transformative for the separation and recovery of valuable materials for re-use. The company’s drop-in solution, which circumvents the need for new industrial workflows and structures, will extend the lifetimes of both resin and reinforcing materials. Further, it will minimize sourcing needs in critical application spaces while diminishing landfilling volumes of composite thermoset materials.