Scientists make safe plastic from plants

Researchers at the University of California - San Diego have created a biodegradable, plant-based plastic.

According to the Daily Mail (UK), a new type of polymer plastic - also known as bioplastic - is developed from algae. Scientists found that 97% of this plastic biodegrades in landfills in just 200 days. Meanwhile, only 35% of traditional plastic can decompose in the same time period.

Researchers have developed an alternative to plastic that produces microplastics (pictured above). (Photo: Shutterstock).

In particular, this new type of plastic will not decompose into cancer-causing microplastics.

Microplastics are microscopic plastic particles found in common plastic products and have been found in human arteries, lungs and placentas. Microplastics can take 100 to 1,000 years to decompose.

"We are only just beginning to understand the implications of microplastics," said Michael Burkart, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California - San Diego and co-author of the study. We are trying to find replacement materials for existing materials and ensure these replacement materials will biodegrade at the end of their useful life, instead of accumulating in the environment. But it's not easy'.

The team launched the project by grinding plant-based polymers into microparticles and using three measurement tools to test whether bacteria in the mixture degraded the material.

Scientists used respirometry to test how much carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) was released as the material decomposed. The results showed that the material complies 100% with industry standards for biodegradability.

The industry standard for biodegradability is that the product must decompose at least 90% within 6 months.

Next, the research team compared microplastics from algae with microplastics from petroleum using the water flotation method - a technology to separate impurities (in the form of solid or liquid particles) that are insoluble and have poor self-settlement ability. out of the liquid.

Because plastics float, they can be easily separated from the water. The researchers tested both plastics after a period of 90 and 200 days, but at the end of the test, almost all of the petroleum-based microplastics had been recovered.

Meanwhile, the researchers only recovered 32% of plant-based microplastics after 90 days and 3% after 200 days, meaning 97% of the test materials were biodegradable.

The final step is to detect the presence of monomers – the tiny particles that make up the plastic – to verify that the polymer has broken down back into the original plant material used to make it.

Degradation time of new bioplastics and plastics derived from petroleum. (Photo: Daily Mail).

Mr. Stephen Mayfield - study co-author, Professor in the School of Biological Sciences and co-founder of Algenesis - said this material is the first plastic proven not to create microplastics when used.

'This is not just a sustainable solution for the end-of-product life cycle and our overburdened landfills. This is truly safe plastic for health ,' he said.

New research marks an important step forward in efforts to remove toxic microplastics from the environment - which can cause heart attacks, some cancers, reproductive problems and dementia.

Some researchers and public health experts have also expressed concern that exposure to microplastics could cause babies to be born with low birth weight.

Recently, microplastics have attracted a lot of public attention when scientists discovered they commonly exist in people's daily lives. These tiny particles have also been found almost everywhere in the world - from the deepest place on the planet, the Mariana Trench, to the top of Mount Everest.

In 2016, three professors at the University of California - San Diego turned algae into a fuel to pursue the goal of creating the first biodegradable shoes.

The research team succeeded in creating a polymer plastic from algae called TPU-FC1 and launched the first biodegradable polyurethane shoe sole made from fossil algae oil in 2022.

Plastic made from fossil algae oil may become the best choice for biodegradable products in the future.

The team also revealed that they have collaborated with an engineering team to use the new bioplastic in the production of mobile phone cases.