Recycled-Polystyrene Optical Laser Composite
Official patent title
Acrylate/chalcone polystyrene composite and uses thereof
Arabic title: مركب بوليسترين من الأكريلات/الكالكون واستخداماته
Invention
Invention
Problem
Polystyrene waste accumulates because it resists natural degradation and is costly to transport for recycling, while photonics needs adaptable laser and coating materials.
Why it matters
Converting discarded polystyrene into an optically active composite could create a higher-value reuse route and broaden material options for thermal laser and coating research.
Approach
The composite places chalcone and 2-hydroxyethyl-methacrylate units within a polystyrene matrix, including waste-foam embodiments. Controlled heating and cooling produce liquid or solid forms with defined fluorescence, laser-spectrum, melting-point, and temperature-dependent intensity characteristics.
Who may benefit
Potential beneficiaries include polystyrene-recycling developers, photonics laboratories, laser-medium producers, smart-coating researchers, and specialty-polymer manufacturers.
Potential value
The technology links polystyrene-waste reuse with a composite that has both liquid and solid laser-medium embodiments and temperature-dependent optical output.
Background
Background
Polystyrene is inexpensive, lightweight, and widely used in packaging, insulation, food service, and consumer products, but its resistance to natural degradation contributes to persistent waste. Foam is especially costly to transport because of its low density and high volume. Chalcones, meanwhile, have conjugated structures whose optical behavior can be tuned for laser applications. The publication combines polystyrene, a chalcone, and an acrylate linker to explore a value-added thermal laser medium and smart-coating material.
Technology overview
Technology overview
A chalcone is mixed with 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate, while polystyrene is dissolved in a heated polar solvent. The two solutions are combined at 80–100 °C and cooled to produce a liquid form. Further heating at 130–170 °C and extended cooling produce a solid. The publication reports distinct liquid and solid laser peaks, fluorescence, melting behavior, temperature-dependent intensity, XRD, and absorption characterization.
Potential applications
Potential applications
- Liquid chalcone–polystyrene media for experimental visible lasers.
- Solid optical media with reported visible laser-spectrum peaks.
- Temperature-responsive optical materials for thermal photonics research.
- Smart-coating studies using a polystyrene-based composite.
- Value-added reuse of waste polystyrene foam in specialty materials.
Evidence-supported advantages
Evidence-supported advantages
- Waste-polystyrene foam can serve as the polymer matrix feedstock.
- The same composition has disclosed liquid and solid laser-medium forms.
- Liquid and solid forms show different reported visible laser peaks.
- Laser intensity is reported as increasing across specified temperature ranges.
- The publication includes absorption, fluorescence, laser, and XRD characterization.
Development stage
Development stage
Laboratory synthesis with absorption, fluorescence, laser-spectrum, temperature-response, and XRD characterization is described; commercialization was not established.
Commercial opportunity
Commercial opportunity
The composite may interest photonics, specialty-coating, and advanced-recycling partners. Product development should verify optical gain, photostability, thermal cycling, coating adhesion and uniformity, solvent and water resistance, lifetime, waste-feedstock variability, solvent recovery, manufacturing throughput, and comparative cost. Application-specific benchmarks would also be needed.
Patent classifications
Patent classifications
WIPO IPC
- C08K5/18Use of inorganic or non-macromolecular organic substances as compounding ingredients
- H01S3/16Devices using light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation [LASER] to amplify or generate light; stimulated-emission devices for non-optical electromagnetic radiation
CPC
- H01S3/20Devices using light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation [LASER] to amplify or generate light; stimulated-emission devices for non-optical electromagnetic radiation
- C08K5/18Use of inorganic or non-macromolecular organic substances as compounding ingredients
- H01S3/16Devices using light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation [LASER] to amplify or generate light; stimulated-emission devices for non-optical electromagnetic radiation
Inventors
Inventors
- First inventorKhalid Hassan Ibnouf Ahmed
- InventorHajo Idriss Mohammed Idriss
- InventorOsamah Abdulrahman Aldaghri
- InventorAmin Osman Elzupir Alamalhuda
Keywords
Keywords
- polystyrene
- chalcone
- 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate
- laser medium
- smart coating
- thermal response
- plastic waste
- photonics
Patent document and drawings
Patent document and drawings
The patent publication is mapped to this record. Patent drawings remain within that publication; no separately cleared public media package has been supplied.