Researchers from the Weitzman Institute have reached a significant breakthrough in material science, creating a new compositional material based on cellulose and amino acids. This innovative material is durable, edible and bio -development, which can be a step in solving globally.
Billions of tons of plastic waste have already accumulated in the world. According to Earth Action research, in 2024, their number will increase by another 220 million tons.
The solution would be such a plastic, which is decomposed naturally, for example, as food waste, but industrial plastics consist of massive molecules - polymers, which are long and difficult to decompose.
A study published in ACS Nano tells that scientists of the Weitsman Institute have created a new composite plastic, which is very strong and easily decomposed.
Now industries use composites - plastics that are made by connecting two or more pure materials. Composites - light and durable. They make details of aircraft, cars or bicycles.
In an effort to create a composite plastic that would meet the needs of the industry and would be environmentally friendly, researchers from the Weitsman Institute focused on common and inexpensive source materials.
Scientists have found that tyrosine molecules - a common amino acid, which forms exceptionally strong nanocrystals - can be used as a component to create a biodegradable composite.
Scientists have opted for hydroxyethylcellus, a cellulose derivative, which is widely used in the production of medicines and cosmetics. Hydroxyethylcellulose is easily disintegrated. To combine it with tyrosine, both materials were mixed in boiling water. When they have cooled and dried, an exceptionally strong composite consisting of fibrous nanocrystals of tyrosine, which grew hydroxyethylcellulose, was formed.
The new material is very durable: a strip of 0.04 mm thick withstands a load of 6 kg. Scientists believe that the new plastic has great industrial potential.
