Amination–degradation of super engineering plastics for the construction of surface emissive resin materials

The advent of effective use of carbon resources has demanded for the future society. This importance is evident from the recent evolution of the "R" framework such as "10 R" including "Repurpose". In this context, super engineering plastics such as polyetheretherketone (PEEK) are considered as promising plastic materials because they can be used as monomaterials, i.e., without additives, by virtue of their high stability, which also renders them suitable to be converted to functionalized recyclable plastics. Herein, we report a degradation methodology for PEEK and polysulfone (PSU) resins using aza-aromatic compounds such as phenothiazine. This amination-degradation reaction cleaves the polymer main chains to form donor-acceptor-donor-type molecules, which allow functionalizing only the resin surface to produce luminescent PEEK powder and plates. These surface-functionalized PEEK materials maintain high thermal stability and are applicable as photoredox catalysts, demonstrating the "Repurpose" of PEEK into value-added products.