The disposal of waste polyvinyl chloride plastics (PVC) has become a major challenge due to the generation of chlorinated pollutants. In the current study, a new process was developed to produce a novel growth substrate with waste PVC and superabsorbent resin (SAR) as raw materials. The main merits were that no hazardous chlorinated by-products were formed under low reaction temperature and a chemical bridge was constructed between SAR and waste PVC via free radical reaction which effectively prevented the loss of SAR and guaranteed sustainable water supply. Structure and morphology studies confirmed that SAR was firstly modified by various silane coupling agents, then incorporated into waste PVC to prepare the substrate by compression-molding foaming process. The maximum water absorbing ratio of the product reached 623% with only 1.65% mass loss under optimum conditions. Moreover, the tensile strength, elongation at break and compression strength of the substrate increased by 84.37%, 52.53%, and 6.47% than the untreated case, respectively. Furthermore, the swelling behavior, reusability and plant cultivation capacity of the new product were also studied systematically. This study provides an efficient process to recycle waste PVC for a sustainable and cost-effective growth substrate preparation.

由于产生了氯化污染物，废弃的聚氯乙烯塑料（PVC）的处置已成为一项主要挑战。在当前的研究中，开发了一种新工艺以废PVC和超吸收性树脂（SAR）为原料生产新型生长基质。其主要优点是在较低的反应温度下不会形成有害的氯化副产物，并且通过自由基反应在SAR和废PVC之间建立了化学桥，从而有效地防止了SAR的损失并保证了可持续的供水。结构和形态研究证实，SAR首先被各种硅烷偶联剂改性，然后被掺入废PVC中，通过压模发泡工艺制备基材。该产品的最大吸水率只有1达到623％。在最佳条件下质量损失为65％。此外，基材的拉伸强度，断裂伸长率和压缩强度分别比未处理的情况增加了84.37％，52.53％和6.47％。此外，还对新产品的溶胀行为，可重复使用性和植物栽培能力进行了系统研究。这项研究提供了一种回收废PVC的有效方法，用于可持续且具有成本效益的生长底物制备。