Explanipedia

Brown Grease as a Precursor to Polyol Monomer for Polyurethane Synthesis Open

Ykok B. Ksor, Andrew G. Tennyson, Ashlyn D. Smith, Rhett C. Smith · 2025

The valorization of waste‐derived feedstocks for polymer synthesis represents a sustainable alternative to petroleum‐based materials. In this study, brown grease, a low‐value waste lipid source, is utilized as a precursor for polyol monome…

Brown Grease Esterification: A Design Strategy to Modulate Homogeneity, Cross‐Linking, and Upcycled Mass Economy in High Sulfur‐Content Materials Open

Bárbara G. S. Guinati, Shalini K. Wijeyatunga, Ashlyn D. Smith, Andrew G. Tennyson, Rhett C. Smith · 2025

Brown grease (BG) is a high‐free fatty acid (FFA) waste coproduct from the food industry that remains largely unexploited. Herein, we describe a design strategy to upcycle BG into high sulfur‐content materials (HSMs) via inverse vulcanizat…

Static and Dynamic Assessments of a Sulfur-Triglyceride Composite for Antimicrobial Surface Applications Open

Shalini K. Wijeyatunga, Perla Y. Sauceda‐Oloño, Nawoda L. Kapuge Dona, Bárbara G. S. Guinati, Katelyn M. Derr , et al. · 2025

Over 80 MT of elemental sulfur, a byproduct of fossil fuel desulfurization, are generated annually. This has spurred the development of high sulfur content materials (HSMs) via inverse vulcanization as a productive pathway towards sulfur u…

High Strength Composites from Wastewater Sludge, Plant Oils, and Fossil Fuel By-Product Elemental Sulfur Open

Katelyn A. Tisdale, Shalini K. Wijeyatunga, M. J. Graham, Perla Y. Sauceda‐Oloño, Andrew G. Tennyson , et al. · 2025

Herein high-strength composites are prepared from elemental sulfur, sunflower oil, and wastewater sludge. Fats extracted from dissolved air flotation (DAF) solids were reacted with elemental sulfur to yield composite DAFS (10 wt% DAF fats …

Tailoring the properties of guaiacol-derived high sulfur-content materials through post-polymerization modification with dithiols Open

Nawoda L. Kapuge Dona, Rhett C. Smith, Andrew G. Tennyson · 2025

Post-polymerization modification with rigid aryl dithiols enables systematic control over the thermal and mechanical properties of guaiacol-derived high sulfur-content materials.

Drive-throughs to driveways: high-strength composites from multi-material post-consumer waste collected from fast food restaurants Open

Katelyn M. Derr, Perla Y. Sauceda‐Oloño, Ashlyn D. Smith, Andrew G. Tennyson, Rhett C. Smith · 2025

This study evaluates the use of post-consumer fast-food restaurant waste and elemental sulfur to create high-strength composite materials. Compressive strengths exceed those of C62 building brick and flexural strengths are competitive with…

Upcycling mixed-material waste with elemental sulfur: applications to plant oil, unseparated biomass, and raw post-consumer food waste Open

Bárbara G. S. Guinati, Perla Y. Sauceda‐Oloño, Nawoda L. Kapuge Dona, Katelyn M. Derr, Shalini K. Wijeyatunga , et al. · 2024

Herein we report the preparation of high sulfur-content materials (HSMs) using food waste and elemental sulfur.

Issue Information ‐ Cover Description Open

Katelyn Derr, Claudia López, Charini Maladeniya, Andrew G. Tennyson, R. Marshall Smith , et al. · 2023

Polyisobutylene-graft-polystyrene copolymers containing mechanophores at the backbone-arm junction were synthesized via controlled radical polymerization.Graft copolymers with varying grafting density and arm length were prepared at a cons…

Upcycling waste PMMA to durable composites via a transesterification‐inverse vulcanization process Open

Shalini K. Wijeyatunga, Katelyn M. Derr, Charini P. Maladeniya, Perla Y. Sauceda‐Oloño, Andrew G. Tennyson , et al. · 2023

Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is an important commodity polymer having a wide range of applications. Currently, only about 10% of PMMA is recycled. Herein, a simple two‐stage process for the chemical upcycling of PMMA is discussed. In t…

Chemical, Thermal, and Mechanical Properties of Sulfur Polymer Composites Comprising Low-Value Fats and Pozzolan Additives Open

Claudia V. Lopez, Katelyn M. Derr, Ashlyn D. Smith, Andrew G. Tennyson, Rhett C. Smith · 2023

High sulfur-content materials (HSMs) formed via inverse vulcanization of elemental sulfur with animal fats and/or plant oils can exhibit remarkable mechanical strength and chemical resistance, sometimes superior to commercial building prod…

Transesterification‐vulcanization route to durable composites from post‐consumer poly(ethylene terephthalate), terpenoids, and industrial waste sulfur Open

Katelyn M. Derr, Claudia V. Lopez, Charini P. Maladeniya, Andrew G. Tennyson, Rhett C. Smith · 2023

Despite improvements in chemical recycling, most post‐consumer plastics are still deposited in landfills where they pose a significant threat to ecological health. Herein we report a two‐stage method for chemically recycling poly(ethylene …

Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Recyclable Composites Prepared from Bio-Olefins and Industrial Waste Open

Perla Y. Sauceda‐Oloño, Ana Cecilia Borbón Almada, Martin Gaxiola, Ashlyn D. Smith, Andrew G. Tennyson , et al. · 2023

Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) production consumes tremendous amounts of fresh water and energy and releases vast quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere. Not only would an alternative to OPC whose production requires no water, releases litt…

Single‐stage chemical recycling of plastic waste to yield durable composites via a tandem transesterification‐thiocracking process Open

Charini P. Maladeniya, Andrew G. Tennyson, Rhett C. Smith · 2023

Environmental contamination by plastic waste is a growing threat to the environment and human health. Unfortunately, most post‐consumer plastics are still disposed of in landfills, even plastics that could be easily recycled via simple che…

Influence of pozzolans on plant oil‐sulfur polymer cements: More sustainable and chemically‐resistant alternatives to Portland cement Open

M. J. Graham, Claudia V. Lopez, Charini P. Maladeniya, Andrew G. Tennyson, Rhett C. Smith · 2023

Low cost and high durability have made Portland cement the most widely‐used building material, but benefits are offset by environmental harm of cement production contributing 8–10% of total anthropogenic CO 2 gas emissions. High sulfur‐con…

Sustainable Composites from Waste Sulfur, Terpenoids, and Pozzolan Cements Open

Katelyn A. Tisdale, Charini P. Maladeniya, Claudia V. Lopez, Andrew G. Tennyson, Rhett C. Smith · 2023

Sulfur cements have drawn significant attention as binders because sulfur is a byproduct of fossil fuel refining. Sulfur cements that can be formed by the vulcanization of elemental sulfur and plant-derived olefins such as terpenoids are p…

Introduction to biomass materials Open

Meisha L. Shofner, Andrew G. Tennyson · 2023

Guest Editors Meisha Shofner and Andrew Tennyson introduce the Materials Advances Biomass Materials themed collection.

Durable composites by vulcanization of oleyl-esterified lignin Open

Menisha S. Karunarathna, Charini P. Maladeniya, Moira K. Lauer, Andrew G. Tennyson, Rhett C. Smith · 2023

Oleic acid is used to esterify lignin and the esterified lignin reacts with elemental sulfur and different temperatures to produce composites with compressional and flexural strength that can exceed that of traditional Portland cement.

Detoxification of bisphenol A via sulfur-mediated carbon–carbon σ-bond scission Open

Timmy Thiounn, Menisha S. Karunarathna, Moira K. Lauer, Andrew G. Tennyson, Rhett C. Smith · 2023

Environmental contamination with bisphenol A (BPA), produced via degradation of plastic waste, can be disintegrated to monoaryls by its reaction with elemental sulfur.

Thermomorphological and mechanical properties of vulcanized octenyl succinate/terpenoid-derivatized corn starch composites Open

Moira K. Lauer, Andrew G. Tennyson, Rhett C. Smith · 2022

Successive modification of starch with octenyl succinic anhydride (OSA) and plant-derived geraniol allows for a largely bio-derived starch derivative that can undergo facile reaction with elemental sulfur to generate sustainable composite …

Inverse vulcanization of octenyl succinate-modified corn starch as a route to biopolymer–sulfur composites Open

Moira K. Lauer, Andrew G. Tennyson, Rhett C. Smith · 2021

Herein we report a route to sulfur–starch composites by the modification of corn starch with octenyl succinic anhydride (OSA) and its subsequent reaction with elemental sulfur to generate OSSx (where x = wt% sulfur, either 90 or 95).

Sulfur-Containing Polymers Prepared from Fatty Acid-Derived Monomers: Application of Atom-Economical Thiol-ene/Thiol-yne Click Reactions and Inverse Vulcanization Strategies Open

Ashlyn D. Smith, Andrew G. Tennyson, Rhett C. Smith · 2020

This paper is review with 119 references. Approaches to supplant currently used plastics with materials made from more sustainably-sourced monomers is one of the great contemporary challenges in sustainable chemistry. Fatty acids are attra…

Copolymerization of a Bisphenol a Derivative and Elemental Sulfur by the RASP Process Open

Timmy Thiounn, Moira K. Lauer, Menisha S. Karunarathna, Andrew G. Tennyson, Rhett C. Smith · 2020

Fossil fuel refining produces over 70 Mt of excess sulfur annually from for which there is currently no practical use. Recently, methods to convert waste sulfur to recyclable and biodegradable polymers have been delineated. In this report,…

Polymer cements by copolymerization of waste sulfur, oleic acid, and pozzolan cements Open

Ashlyn D. Smith, Rhett C. Smith, Andrew G. Tennyson · 2020

Robust, remeltable and remarkably simple to prepare biomass–sulfur composites Open

Moira K. Lauer, Menisha S. Karunarathna, Andrew G. Tennyson, Rhett C. Smith · 2020

Lignocellulosic biomass holds a tremendous opportunity for transformation into carbon-negative materials, yet the expense of separating biomass into its cellulose and lignin components remains a primary economic barrier to biomass utilizat…

Recyclable, sustainable, and stronger than portland cement: a composite from unseparated biomass and fossil fuel waste Open

Moira K. Lauer, Menisha S. Karunarathna, Andrew G. Tennyson, Rhett C. Smith · 2020

A composite was prepared from biomass and waste sulfur from fossil fuel refining.

Durable Cellulose–Sulfur Composites Derived from Agricultural and Petrochemical Waste Open

Moira K. Lauer, Tatiana A. Estrada‐Mendoza, Colin D. McMillen, George Chumanov, Andrew G. Tennyson , et al. · 2019

Nature provides a rich panoply of structural motifs comprised of composites whose mechanical properties exceed those of their individual components. The human endeavor to likewise craft value‐added structural materials from underappreciate…

Durable, acid-resistant copolymers from industrial by-product sulfur and microbially-produced tyrosine Open

Timmy Thiounn, Andrew G. Tennyson, Rhett C. Smith · 2019

Copolymers of waste sulfur and bacterially-produced tyrosine are reported.

Hydrogen peroxide as a hydride donor and reductant under biologically relevant conditions Open

Yamin Htet, Zhuomin Lu, Sunia A. Trauger, Andrew G. Tennyson · 2018

Hydrogen peroxide functioned as a hydride donor and terminal reductant for the ruthenium-catalyzed reduction of radicals under biologically-relevant conditions.

Thermally-healable network solids of sulfur-crosslinked poly(4-allyloxystyrene) Open

Timmy Thiounn, Moira K. Lauer, Monte S. Bedford, Rhett C. Smith, Andrew G. Tennyson · 2018

Sulfur and a polystyrene derivative were combined to form thermally-healable and recyclable composite materials with dramatically increased structural integrity versus sulfur alone.

Catalytic radical reduction in aqueous solution via oxidation of biologically-relevant alcohols Open

Yamin Htet, Andrew G. Tennyson · 2016

An organoruthenium complex catalyzed radical reduction in aqueous solution via oxidation of amino acids, sugars, or citric acid cycle metabolites.

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