" The idea to convert existing thermosets into vitrimers is very appealing, " says Tanja Junkers.

“将现有的热固性材料转化为 vitrimers 的想法非常有吸引力， ” Tanja Junkers 说。

" You have thermosets in cars. You have thermosets in buildings" .

“汽车中有热固性材料。 建筑物中有热固性材料” 。

Some other polymers like polyurethane or Bakelite are thermoset.

其他一些聚合物如聚氨酯或电木是热固性的。

So far, though, there's no way to recycle what's known as thermoset plastics.

不过，到目前为止， 还没有办法回收所谓的热固性塑料。

Polyethylene can actually be converted into a thermoset polymer by introducing cross-links, basically molecular bridges between those polymer chains.

聚乙烯实际上可以通过引入交联转化为热固性聚合物，基本上是这些聚合物链之间的分子桥。

The team combined bits of one type of thermoset plastic with a tiny amount of a zinc-based compound.

该团队将一种热固性塑料的碎片与少量锌基化合物结合在一起。

Some vitrimer plastics might even perform better than the original thermosets for some uses.

对于某些用途， 一些 vitrimer 塑料甚至可能比原来的热固性塑料表现得更好。

" Most of the plastic components in an aircraft are thermoset materials, " says Ica Manas-Zloczower.

“飞机中的大部分塑料部件都是热固性材料， ” Ica Manas-Zloczower 说。

A similar approach can work for other types of thermoset plastics, too, Manas-Zloczower says.

Manas-Zloczower 说， 类似的方法也适用于其他类型的热固性塑料。

Last year, Manas-Zloczower and Liang Yue, also at Case Western, were part of a team that developed a process to convert thermoset plastics into such vitrimers.

去年，同样在 Case Western 的 Manas-Zloczower 和 Liang Yue 所在的团队开发了一种将热固性塑料转化为此类 vitrimer 的工艺。