Microplastics are an environmental hazard found nearly everywhere on Earth, released by the breakdown of tires, clothing, and plastic packaging. Another significant source of microplastics is tiny ...

Testing how quickly a biodegradable plastic actually breaks down in the environment can take months, sometimes years, of lab ...

Chemical recycling of biodegradable polymers offers a route to recover monomers and valuable chemicals from end-of-life bioplastics, reinforcing a circular economy for renewable materials. Unlike ...

From touch-sensitive smartphone screens to fitness wearables and wireless earbuds, electronics are becoming ever more integrated into our daily lives—and smaller, lighter, and more flexible in the ...

Biodegradable polymers are a type of polymer that exists both naturally and can be synthesized in laboratories. This special class of polymer is broken down naturally by microbial processes to produce ...

Polymer scientists from the University of Twente have developed a new phosphorus-based polymer that they say could help heteronuclear MRI end its reliance on fluoropolymers. “As a scientist, you’re ...

Biodegradable polymers encompass a diverse group of materials capable of undergoing degradation by biological processes into benign end products. These include aliphatic polyesters such as polylactic ...

Researchers have developed an adhesive polymer that is stronger than current commercially available options while also being biodegradable, tunable, and reusable. The findings show how the common, ...

To combat the alarming rise in plastic pollution worldwide, researchers have developed a synthetic microorganism ecosystem that works collectively to upcycle plastics into desired chemicals. Instead ...

Plastic pollution is a major threat to human survival, with more than six hundred thousand tons of plastics on Earth. 2 In an effort to reduce the concentration of conventional plastics, scientists ...