Chinese scientists have recently developed a polyester composite plastic material that can degrade in seawater, and it is expected to replace existing common plastics that are difficult to degrade in many fields.
Wang Gexia, senior engineer of the Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that the water-soluble and degradable materials developed by the team have certain environmental tolerance and can be degraded in seawater within days to hundreds of days after disposal. , eventually decomposed into small molecules that will not pollute the environment.
According to conservative estimates, humans put 4.8 million tons to 12.7 million tons of plastic waste per year to the ocean, accounting for 60% to 80% of the total amount of marine solid pollutants. The World Economic Forum also issued a warning that the total weight of global marine plastics in 2050 will be More than the total weight of the fish.
Wang Gexia pointed out that although the problem of plastic pollution in the ocean is already very serious, there is still no effective response to these plastic pollution. The special marine environment of the ocean makes it impossible to collect and treat such a large amount of scattered garbage as on land. The most fundamental and effective way is to let the material degrade and disappear after it has been discarded into seawater.
According to reports, the Research Group of Degradable Plastics and Engineering Plastics of the Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences is the first unit in China to carry out research on biodegradable plastics. Biodegradable plastics are mostly polymer materials containing ester bonds, and the molecular chains are relatively fragile, so they can be naturally Many microorganisms decompose, digest, and eventually form carbon dioxide and water.
After repeated experiments, the research team of the Institute of Physical and Chemical Technology combined the non-enzymatic hydrolysis process with the water-soluble process and the biodegradation process to achieve rapid degradation of the material in seawater. Researchers through the design, synthesis, modification and Processing makes its degradation performance can be adjusted according to different application requirements.
In the recent “First Cup” future technology innovation competition held in Shenzhen to enhance China's independent innovation capability and increase the transformation of advanced scientific and technological achievements, this technology ranks among the 30 winning projects.