My God, scientists are doing big things again! According to the latest news, a research team at Osaka Metropolitan University successfully synthesized biodegradable plastics from waste acetone and low-concentration carbon dioxide using photosynthesis . Waste acetone, from permanent marker ink, carbon dioxide, whatever, proper waste.
And if you take a deep look, the sources of biodegradable plastics can really be varied. For example, a research team in the United States uses microorganisms to convert polyester biopolymers from kitchen waste , which is used to make biodegradable plastics. Another example is the use of carbon dioxide. The Korea Institute of Science and Technology has developed an electrolyte that creates more effective conditions for the production of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) by the insecticidal cupricophore.
The world is so big that there are indeed many wonders. Not only many seemingly unrelated things can become the "raw material" of biodegradable plastics, but also plastic waste is not inferior to the "face".
A research group at the University of Southern Mississippi in the United States has used advanced 3D printing technology and made a technological breakthrough in the field of converting plastic waste into carbon materials . They said that this method does not require the construction of a new industrial chain. It is a low-cost preparation process, which is very likely to be applied to solve the heat dissipation problem in the chip field, and is expected to be applied within 1 to 3 years.
If it is said that plastic waste can be used as fuel, would you immediately think of burning it directly? That is not the best way to use it efficiently and sustainably. The attempt by an international research team led by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory of the US Department of Energy is a new method of converting low-density plastic waste into liquid fuels - "cracking + alkylation catalyst ", which reduces energy consumption and does not produce unnecessary by-products.
From carbon materials to liquid fuels, do you think this is the end? Researchers at Tokyo Metropolitan University have published new research showing that a hybrid catalyst material composed of gold nanoparticles can be used to efficiently convert plastic waste into organosilane compounds , which are high-value chemicals .
Not only that, the topic of "plastic-soil additive" researched by UCR in the United States has also made progress. It is reported that they have found a way to convert waste such as plastic and corn stalks into a highly porous form of charcoal, which can be used as a soil additive to improve soil water retention and farmland aeration, and can be naturally decomposed into fertilizer.
Even more incredible, what if plastic waste can become a diamond ? Germany's HZDR and Rostock University in Germany and the French Federal Institute of Technology and SLAC jointly conducted a polystyrene laser shock experiment, combined with X-ray technology, to confirm the possibility of compressing hydrocarbons into diamonds. They say the experiment offers a cleaner and more manageable way to produce diamonds.
only you can't think of it, and it can't be done without technology! There is also the University of Edinburgh’s discussion on the conversion of waste plastics into vanillin (a vanilla flavoring ingredient), and the University of Science and Technology of China’s use of plastic waste to make new sandwich-like porous carbon nanosheets loaded with hexagonal carbon microsheets, etc. The surprises that technology can bring are really great. Same as usual. Of course, how many of these plastic waste-to-treasure programs can be promoted on a large scale is still waiting for further verification.
