Plastic, a great invention in the 20th century, its appearance has promoted the progress of industry and changed human life; plastic, a bad invention in the 20th century, its pollution and even the negative effects of the environment have not yet been resolved – the advantages of plastics and The disadvantage is like a “double-edged sword” in real life, it is powerful enough, but it is very dangerous. And for us, the low cost, thermal stability, mechanical strength, processability and compatibility of plastics make it difficult for us to not use it completely in the production of our products, which leads to the fact that although we understand that plastics may threaten environment, but we still have to rely on this material. It is also for this reason that “banning” or “changing” plastics has become a long-term topic in the field of materials science for the protection of the environment.
In fact, this process is not without results. For a long time, the research on “changing plastics” has continued to advance, and many reliable and practical results have emerged one after another, such as polylactic acid plastics. And just recently, a research team from the School of Basic Sciences at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne has developed a biomass-derived plastic similar to polyethylene terephthalate (PET). This new material has the advantages of traditional plastics such as strong thermal stability, reliable mechanical strength, and strong plasticity. At the same time, the production process is also very environmentally friendly. It is reported that the new PET plastic material uses glyoxylic acid for plastic processing, which is simple to operate, but can convert 25% of agricultural waste or 95% of pure sugar into plastic. In addition to being easy to produce, this material is also susceptible to degradation due to its intact sugar structure.
It is worth mentioning that at present, researchers have successfully processed this material into common plastic products such as packaging films, and have proved that it can be used as a 3D printing consumable (that is, it can be made into filaments for 3D printing. ), so we have reason to expect this material to have broader application scenarios in the future.
Conclusion: The development of plastic materials is a process to solve plastic pollution from the source for environmental protection. However, from the perspective of the common people, in fact, the impact of this development on us is more that the common tools in life begin to change. In contrast, starting from our lives, if we really want to solve plastic pollution from the source, perhaps more importantly, avoid the abuse and abandonment of plastics, strengthen recycling management and market supervision, and prevent pollutants from flowing into nature.
Post time: Aug-15-2022