Dr. Adriá Roig

June 27 at 10:00 a.m.

Classroom 002 - Aulario I

Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Móstoles

Recycling the Unrecyclable 

Thermosetting materials are prized for their remarkable mechanical and thermal properties, owing to their three-dimensional covalent structure. This structural characteristic makes them indispensable in various applications such as adhesives, coatings, composites, aerospace, and electronics. However, their irreversible cross-linked structure, prevents them to be reformed or recycled at the end of their lifespan, which undoubtedly leads to amount of plastic waste landfilled, incinerated or disposed generating serious environmental concerns.

To overcome this issue, the use of dynamic chemistry in 3D covalent crosslinked networks has been developed during the past decade leading to the creation of the so-called covalent adaptable networks (CANs). These materials contain dynamic bonds that, upon triggering certain stimuli (i.e. heat, light or pH), can undergo reversible chemical reactions that can enable, not only a certain flowability into the materials allowing them to be (re)processed, but also the possibility to be chemically recycled, thus enhancing their lifetime and effectively contributing to a better sustainability.

Herein, different reversible chemical reactions (imine, transesterification, amide-imide exchange, among others) have been used to develop novel series of thermosetting materials via different strategies (simple or dual-curing) for advanced functional applications such as, (re) and (de)bondable adhesives, 3D printing or self-healing and self-welding. This explains why with the a proper design of CANs, these materials can be the next generation of thermosetting materials.

About Adriá

Adrià Roig obtained his Bachelor Degree in Chemistry at Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona) in 2018, focusing his thesis research on the synthesis of sustainable polymers from biobased green solvents. Later, he obtained his Master's Degree in Synthesis, Catalysis and Molecular Design at the same university (URV) in 2019, completing his master thesis in SET-LRP of (meth) acrylates derived from biobased solvents under the supervision of Dr. Gerard Lligadas.

He then pursued a PhD in the group of Prof. Àngels Serra and Dr. Silvia De la Flor at Universitat Rovira i Virgili, working on the development of sustainable thermosets for advanced functional applications. He graduated in 2023 authoring more than 15 scientific publications. During this time, he also completed an internship at Delft University of Technology (Netherlands) supervised by Dr. Santiago García Espallargas, where he explored the potential use of vitrimers as adhesives.

Currently, Adrià is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Ghent University (Belgium) in the Polymer Chemistry Research Group (PCR) led by Prof. Filip Du Prez, focusing on the design of chemical recyclable polyethylene and the development of covalent adaptable networks for high-performance applications. Additionally, Adrià received the 2nd best Polymer Thesis in 2023 Award from the "Grupo Especializado de Polimeros (GEP)" as well as the Adhesion Innovation Award in 2025 organized by FEICA and EURADH for his contributions to advancing sustainable adhesive technologies.

What will this conference bring you?

The high crosslinking of thermoset polymers is driving their increasing use in high-performance applications. However, that same crosslinking makes recycling a major current challenge. In this talk:

• You'll join us in exploring alternative solutions to landfill disposal.

• We'll show you how, through the development of new covalent adaptable networks (CANs), we're not only able to recycle these materials, but also create reusable adhesive bonds, self-healing materials, and new alternatives such as thermal welding in these polymers.

Do you want to join us? 🫴 June 27 at 10:00 a.m.

We look forward to seeing you!