New plastic material decomposes faster

A new type of plastic that decomposes by bacteria has a faster decomposition rate than current plastics and is environmentally safe.

This new material is a modified form of plastic called polyhydroxybutyrate or PHB . The bacterial-producing compound is present in many products from medical bottles to medical implants and is considered a clean material to replace oil-based plastics used in packaging production applications. agriculture and birth - y.

(Photo: Scienceinschool) Although PHB has been commercialized since the 80s of the last century, it is still not widely used because of its fragility and undefined biodegradability. Now scientists from Cornell University, New York, have developed a new type of plastic that is more durable and decays faster.

The key to this improvement is a type of ' clay ' that is only a few nanometers in diameter - one billionth of a meter - that is attached to molecules. These ' micro clay ' molecules harden PHB molecules and increase durability. These molecules also act as catalysts for faster decomposition.

The scientists found that this PHB compound can be completely decomposed in a composted environment after 7 weeks. Testing on current plastics shows that they are almost non-degradable in this environment. Scientists can adjust the rate of decomposition by reducing the number of micro clay particles.

Researchers believe their work could make PHB more popular. This plastic compound can regenerate because they are made from bacteria. Cornell University scientist Emmanuel Giannelis told LiveScience: ' This is very important because we can stop using oil-based plastics.' Giannelis and colleagues published their work on the November edition of Biomacromolecules.