Scientists develop plastic that dissolves in seawater within hours | Fast-dissolving plastic offers hope for cleaner seas
https://www.techspot.com/news/108206-scientists-plastic-dissolves-seawater-hours.html
Scientists develop plastic that dissolves in seawater within hours | Fast-dissolving plastic offers hope for cleaner seas
https://www.techspot.com/news/108206-scientists-plastic-dissolves-seawater-hours.html
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From the article: Plastic materials have become a cornerstone of modern life, but their widespread use has created a growing environmental challenge. Scientists worldwide are racing to develop sustainable solutions to plastic pollution, and a research team in Japan may have made a significant breakthrough toward that goal.
A team of Japanese researchers has developed a plastic material that disappears in seawater within hours, leaving no harmful residues. Designed to be more environmentally friendly than traditional biodegradable plastics, it breaks down without leaving microplastic particles to pollute the world’s oceans.
Scientists from the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science and the University of Tokyo developed the new plastic material. It matches the strength of traditional petroleum-based plastics but breaks down into its original components when exposed to salt. Naturally occurring bacteria then process these components, leaving no microplastic or nanoplastic contamination behind.
The researchers demonstrated their invention in a Tokyo-area lab, showing how a piece of transparent plastic disappeared in salty water after about an hour. Since salt is also found in soil, two inches of this material should fully break down after 200 hours underground.
Reuters notes that the material is non-toxic to humans, fire-resistant, and does not release carbon dioxide. When coated, it functions like any regular plastic product. The team is now focused on developing an optimal coating method, indicating the material is not yet ready for commercialization.
Let’s hope it dissolves before my student loans do
>Fast-dissolving plastic offers hope for cleaner seas
Clean like it looks clean? What happens to the environment by dissolved Plastic is just not of their interest?
I mean, isn’t making plastic hide better 100x worse than seeing plastic in plain sight?
We already have that
The question is, is that cheap enough?
Wouldn’t dissolved plastic contribute to the microplastic issue?
The material is a “supramolecular plastic” made from ionic monomers held together by reversible salt bridges. One of the key components is sodium hexametaphosphate, a common food additive. The unique structure is stable until exposed to electrolytes like those found in seawater, which triggers its breakdown.
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What about mineral (salt/electrolytes) water in such bottles?
Let me guess, it just costs 10,000 times the price of current plastics?