" 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。

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。

" 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” 。

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。