Graph-Based Machine Learning Identifies Oxygenated Block Polymer Replacements for Conventional Plastics and Elastics.

Molaei S., Poon KC., Gao C., Eisenhardt KHS., Concilio M., Sulley GS., Marzagão DK., Gregory GL., Clifton DA., Siviour CR., Williams CK.

Oxygenated block polymers, comprising esters and carbonates, are priority materials to replace petrochemical polymers in a circular plastics economy. These materials should repopulate the thermomechanical property space mapped by current plastics and elastomers. Here, a novel machine learning approach, PolyReco, predicts structures of oxygenated block polymers meeting the mechanical performance thresholds for widely used and hard-to-replace petroleum derived hydrocarbon polymers. Triblock oxygenated polymers are represented as graphs, and a link prediction algorithm enables feature extraction to identify new block polymer combinations, and associated degrees of polymerization, to meet the target properties. PolyReco is paired with a visualization tool for further material down selection based on user requirements. Three case studies highlight and experimentally validate its predictive power for identifying high-performance oxygenated block polymers, with new block polymers prepared and tested. These new block polymers exhibit tensile mechanical properties in the range of high-impact polystyrene, poly(dimethylsiloxane), and styrenic elastomers; the experimental results indicate that PolyReco may help support the identification of sustainable materials that could reduce dependence on fossil-based polymer incumbents.

DOI

10.1021/jacs.5c21416

Type

Journal article

Publication Date

2026-03-01T00:00:00+00:00

Addresses

Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PJ, U.K.

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