IBM and Stanford discover new chemical catalyst

IBM and Stanford discover new chemical catalyst
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IBM Research, Yorktown Heights, New York, has announced the identification of a chemical catalyst that it says can be used to create cheaper, biodegradable plastics from plants, such as palm trees and beets. 

“What’s exciting about this discovery is that we now have a cheaper way to convert plants into common consumer plastics that decompose over time, providing an alternative to recycling plastics,” says Gavin O. Jones, computational chemist, IBM Research, Almaden, San Jose, California. “Making biodegradable plastics mainstream means less impact on our solid waste systems.”

The current method to convert plants into biodegradable plastics imparts heavy metals into the process. While used in small amounts, these heavy metals are difficult to remove, remain in the material and do not decompose over time. The new catalyst is an organic substance that lowers the energy required for the conversion from plant to plastic to occur, IBM Research says. It does not contain heavy metals and can thus degrade in the environment over time just like the plastic itself.

“In this study, we used a combination of predictive modeling and experimental lab work to make the discovery,” says Xiangyi Zhang, a graduate student working with Dr. Robert Waymouth at Department of Chemistry for Stanford University. “This tag-team approach takes a lot of the guess work out of the process and helps us accelerate the materials discovery process.”

Biodegradable plastics, however, are a source of concern for many in the plastics recycling industry, as they are worried the material could compromise the integrity of existing plastics recycling infrastructure.

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Source: Recycling Today
IBM and Stanford discover new chemical catalyst
<![CDATA[IBM Research, Yorktown Heights, New York, has announced the identification of a chemical catalyst that it says can be used to create cheaper, biodegradable plastics from plants, such as palm trees and beets. “What’s exciting about this discovery is that we now have a cheaper way to convert plants into common consumer plastics that decompose over time, providing an alternative to recycling plastics,” says Gavin O. Jones, computational chemist, IBM Research, Almaden, San Jose, California. “Making biodegradable plastics mainstream means less impact on our solid waste systems.”The current method to convert plants into biodegradable plastics imparts heavy metals into the process. While used in small amounts, these heavy metals are difficult to remove, remain in the material and do not decompose over time. The new catalyst is an organic substance that lowers the energy required for the conversion from plant to plastic to occur, IBM Research says. It does not contain heavy metals and can thus degrade in the environment over time just like the plastic itself.”In this study, we used a combination of predictive modeling and experimental lab work to make the discovery,” says Xiangyi Zhang, a graduate student working with Dr. Robert Waymouth at Department of Chemistry for Stanford…