In the US, a new fully degradable polymer
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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A group of chemists from the US has found a new polymer material, from which not only can various materials be produced, but also subsequently processed without harm to the environment. Researchers propose to recycle plastic into molecular building blocks, thereby giving plastic products a second life. Today in a number of countries, obsolete plastic products are sent for processing, where useful products are produced from them, however, most of them eventually end up in a dump or in the ocean.
There is also a decomposable plastic that decomposes under certain conditions (for example, polylactic acid), but even this alternative variant has some drawbacks: existing processing methods do not allow decomposition without formation of harmful products.
The goal of American chemists was to find plastic that would be suitable for recycling and would be biodegradable. In the course of the work, the experts studied the molecules of one of the substitutes for petroleum products (this substitute was included by the Ministry of Energy of the United States in a number of the most appropriate to all parameters).
Lactone y-hydroxybutyric acid was considered by scientists as a material for the production of building blocks for modern plastics, but the substance has thermal stability, this property prevented scientists from combining it into a chain of repeating monomers with the formation of plastic.
According to Professor of Chemistry Eugene Chen, in previous reports, all the conclusions of the researchers boiled down to the fact that this monomer does not deserve the attention of scientists. All the chemists who worked with the lactone of y-hydroxybutyric acid assured that it would not work out the polymer, but Professor Chen and his colleagues had a suspicion that there were some inaccuracies in the reports.
The researchers began working with the lactone of y-hydroxybutyric acid, and as a result not only the polymer was obtained, but also they were able to achieve various forms (cyclic, linear). In the work, scientists needed catalysts, both on the basis of metal and without the content of this element, which allowed them to produce polyester with double polygamma-butyrolactone. In the course of further work, the researchers realized that when the material is heated after about an hour, it is converted to the original state (the cyclic polymer requires heating at 300 ° C, linear - 220 ° C), in other words, the new material is biodegradable and does not harm the environment, in the difference from the plastic products used to date.
According to the members of the research group, the monomer used in their work is a valuable replacement for the bioplastics P4NB, which is widely used for commercial purposes. The production of P4NV is more expensive and complex, unlike most plastics. The team of Professor Chen suggested that their cheaper and practical version of plastic production will become widespread.
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