Hybrid Injection Molding Machine

With the help of a seed grant from CSU Ventures, the chemists are optimising their monomer synthesis process and developing, new, even more غير مجاز مي باشدt-effective routes to such polymers. The monomer can be conveniently polymerised under environmentally friendly, industrially realistic conditions: solvent-free, at room temperature, with just a few minutes of reaction time and only a trace amount of catalyst.Back at its chemical starting point, the material could be used over and over again - completely redefining what it means to "recycle.The new, much-improved polymer structure resolves the issues of the first-generation material. For these same reasons, plastics waste in causing major environmental problems around the globe.The previous polymer also had low heat resistance and molecular weight, and, while plastic-like, was relatively soft.Researchers from Colorado State University in the US discovered a polymer with many of the same characteristics we enjoy in plastics, such as light weight, heat resistance, strength and durability.Scientists have developed a novel plastic that can be completely recycled as many times as required, without the use of toxic chemicals or intensive lab procedures.The resulting material has a high molecular weight, thermal stability and crystallinity, and mechanical properties that perform very much like a plastic.

The work builds on a previous generation of a chemically recyclable polymer.Polymers are a broad class of materials injection molding factories characterised by long chains of chemically bonded, repeating molecular units called monomers.The new polymer technology has only been demonstrated at the academic lab scale.""The polymers can be chemically recycled and reused, in principle, infinitely," Chen said.. There is still much work to be done to perfect the patent-pending monomer and polymer production processes he and colleagues have invented.They are also working on scalability issues on their monomer-polymer-monomer recycling setup, while further researching new chemical structures for even better recyclable materials."It would be our dream to see this chemically recyclable polymer technology materialise in the marketplace," Chen said.Plastics are cheap, lightweight and long-lasting. Without need for further purification, the monomer can be re-polymerizede.However, the new polymer, unlike typical petroleum plastics, can be converted back to its original small-molecule state for complete chemical recyclability.

Most importantly, the polymer can be recycled back to its original, monomeric state under mild lab conditions, using a catalyst.It led to a design principle for developing future-generation polymers that not only are chemically recyclable, but also exhibit robust practical properties. Synthetic polymers today include plastics, as well as fibres, ceramics, rubbers, coatings, and many other commercial products.The research paves the way for a future in which new, green plastics, rather than surviving in landfills and oceans for millions of years, can be simply placed in a reactor and, in chemical parlance, de-polymerised to recover their value - not possible for todays petroleum plastics. Making the old version required extremely cold conditions that would have limited its industrial potential

"We have been involved with independently reviewing the findings and methodology to ensure the study is robust and credible," said lead researcher Andrew Mayes, from UEA&HXH 20039;s School of Chemistry."Tap water, by and large, is much safer than bottled water," said Mason."It's more urgent now than ever before to make plastic water bottles a thing of the past.Researchers tested 250 bottles of water in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Thailand, and the United States.The plastic debris included polypropylene, nylon, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is used to make bottle caps.10mm) size range - considered "microplastics" - were found at an average rate of 10.Plastic was identified in 93 per cent of the samples, which included major name brands such as Aqua, Aquafina, Dasani, Evian, Nestle Pure Life and San Pellegrino."Widespread contamination" with plastic was found in the study, led by microplastic researcher Sherri Mason of the State University of New York at Fredonia, according to a summary released by Orb Media, a US-based non-profit media collective. "

The results stack up."Jacqueline Savitz, chief policy officer for North America at Oceana, a marine advocacy group that was not involved in the research, said the study provides more evidence that society must abandon the ubiquitous use of plastic water bottles.On average, plastic particles in the 100 micron (0."We know plastics are building-up in marine animals, and this means we too are being exposed, some of us, every day," she said.Miami: The world's leading brands of bottled water are contaminated with tiny plastic particles that are likely seeping in during the packaging process, according to a major study across nine countries published on Wednesday (Mar 14).".4 plastic particles per litre."We know that they are connected to these synthetic chemicals in the environment and we know that plastics are providing kind of a means to get those chemicals into our bodies.Other brands that were found to contain plastic contaminated included Bisleri, Epura, Gerolsteiner, Minalba and Wahaha.

The three-month study used a technique developed by the University of East Anglia's School of Chemistry to "see" microplastic particles by staining them using fluorescent Nile Red dye, which makes plastic fluorescent when irradiated with blue light."I think it is coming through the process of bottling the water."In this study, 65 per cent of the particles we found were actually fragments and not fibres," Mason told agencies."Particle concentration ranged from "zero to more than 10,000 likely plastic particles in a single bottle", said the report.Experts cautioned that the extent of the risk to human health posed by such contamination remains unclear."Time to ditch plastic?Previous research by Orb Media has found plastic # particles in tap water, too, but on a smaller scale."There are connections to increases in certain kinds of cancer to lower sperm count to increases in conditions like ADHD and autism," said Mason.Even smaller particles were more common - averaging about 325 per litre. I think that most of the plastic that we are seeing is coming from the bottle itself, it is coming from the cap, it is coming from the industrial process of bottling the water