Polyurethanes in products from cushy sofas to stretchy spandex have made sitting, sleeping and walking more comfortable. But once they have served their purpose, most of the non-degradable materials pile up in landfills.
Now scientists report in the journal ACS Macro Letters a potential way to reduce future waste: a chemically recyclable foam made using a new sugar-derived material.
Polyurethanes are highly versatile materials. In addition to furniture and clothing, manufactures use them in electronics, cars, floors and medical devices. But the materials come from petroleum, and efforts to recycle them are limited. To tackle the huge amount of waste this creates, scientists are pursuing more sustainable options. Marc A. Hillmyer and colleagues developed an efficient method to make a sugar-derived rubbery polyester compound called poly(?-methyl-?-valerolactone)
Using this new polymer, the researchers made flexible polyurethane foams that were comparable in performance to commercial analogs. To test whether the foams could be recycled, the team first added a catalyst, then heated the materials to a high temperature.
Through this process, the researchers recovered up to 97 percent of the starting ?-methyl-?-valerolactone (MVL) monomer in high purity. The researchers then used what they recovered to re-make PMVL with essentially identical properties.
The Latest on: PMVL
[google_news title=”” keyword=”PMVL” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: PMVL
- Aggressive Stock Portfolio: 13 Stocks Picked by Analystson April 4, 2024 at 9:29 am
based on its proprietary multivesicular liposome (pMVL) drug delivery technology, for use in hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers. On February 29, Pacira Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCRX ...
- Aggressive Stock Portfolio: 13 Stocks Picked by Analystson April 3, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Tampa, Florida-based Pacira Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCRX) is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development, commercialization, and manufacture of new pharmaceutical products, based ...
via Bing News
What's Your Reaction?
Don't Like it!
0
I Like it!
0
