Science Daily April 21, 2021 The process developed by a team of researchers in the US (UC Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, UMass Amherst) involves embedding polyester-eating enzymes in the plastic as it is made. When exposed to heat and water, an enzyme starts chomping the plastic polymer into its building blocks. In the case of biodegradable plastics, which are made primarily of the polyester known as polylactic acid, or PLA, it reduces it to lactic acid that can feed the soil microbes in compost. The polymer wrapping also degrades. The process eliminates microplastics, a byproduct of many chemical degradation […]
Tag Archives: Pollution control
Single atoms as catalysts
Nanowerk September 2, 2019 Researchers in Austria have shown that metal atoms can be placed on a metal oxide surface so that they show exactly the desired chemical behavior. When metal atoms are deposited on a metal oxide surface, they usually have a very strong tendency to clump together and form nanoparticles. Instead of attaching the active metal atoms to a surface, it is also possible to incorporate them into a molecule with cleverly selected neighboring atoms. The molecules and reactants are then dissolved into a liquid where the chemical reactions take place. They have developed a technique to incorporate […]