Conventional plastics are typically derived from petrochemicals (i.e., petroleum and natural gas). They consist of polymers, long chains of repeating molecular units, which give the material its plastic properties. Common examples of such plastics include polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and polystyrene. These materials are not biodegradable, meaning they do not break down naturally in the environment. This leads to significant environmental issues, such as pollution and harm to wildlife.
That could be a lot of effort to do, but on the other hand the world must move away from petrochemical-based materials and to do so major changes will be required.
The majority of today’s common plastics are derived from petrochemical sources. This is known to be detrimental to the environment during production, and the resulting plastics tend to be near-indestructible. The vast majority of plastic produced ends up in landfills or the ocean, where it breaks up into microplastic bits that ultimately pollute our food supply. We are all slowly absorbing random chemicals from these plastics.
That could be the case with new research from the University of Konstanz in Germany have developed a new form of mineral plastic that’s both biodegradable and self-healing.
On the other hand, mineral plastics are a relatively new class of materials that are bio-inspired. They are made by combining minerals with polymers, which can give them exceptional properties, such as self-healability, stretchability in the hydrogel state, high hardness, toughness, transparency, and non-flammability in the dry state. Furthermore, they can be transformed reversibly into a hydrogel by adding water, making them easy to reshape and recycle.
Via Wiley
