Chemists Develop Radical Way to Make it Easier, More Profitable to Recycle Plastic

scientist analyzing science experiment laboratory test looking at microscope laboratory research t20 A9Za71 Chemists Develop Radical Way to Make it Easier, More Profitable to Recycle Plastic

Takeaways:

  • A group of chemists at the University of North Carolina have discovered a method to break down plastics and to create a new material that will be tougher, stronger and potentially more valuable than the original.
  • Through a series of experiments on different materials, the chemists found by pulling hydrogen atoms from polyolefin, they could expand the life of single use plastics into high-value plastic known as ionome.
  •  “We hope this method could drive an economic incentive to recycle plastic, literally turning trash into treasure” said Frank Leibfarth, assistant professor of chemistry in the UNC College of Arts & Sciences.

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