Page 58 - Plastics News September 2026

TECHNOLOGY NEWS

Scientists Turns Plastics Into High-Performance

Engine Lubricant

waste and help address
the growing problem of
plastic pollution.

The method begins with
PVC similar to the mate-
rial found in household
plumbing, window struc-
tures, and even credit
cards. Researchers place
the PVC in a solvent, then
add aluminum trichloride
and alpha olefins. The
mixture is heated to 158
degrees Fahrenheit for
esearchers have discovered a way to three hours. Afterward, the researchers extract
turn notoriously difficult-to-recycle PVC a relatively thick oil from the solvent that func-
Rplastic into a key ingredient used in high- tions as a lubricant.
performance lubricants such as engine oil. Vir-
ginia Tech chemist and chemical engineer Gu- "The idea was simple. PVC, as one of the most
oliang "Greg" Liu and his research team have activated forms of polyethylene, ought to be
developed a method for transforming polyvinyl easily converted into some other molecules by
chloride (PVC) into polyalphaolefin, an important replacing the chlorine atoms with other groups,"
ingredient used in lubricants including engine oil. Liu said.
Liu's laboratory has now developed a process
that could provide another destination for PVC The early results, however, were not especially

62 PLASTICS NEWS September 2026