Degradable Plastics Are Vulnerable to Cracks

A plastic may degrade in response to a trigger.The kinetics of degradation have long been characterized by the loss of weight and strength over time.These methods of gross characterization,however,are misleading when plastic degrades heterogeneously.Here,we study heterogeneous degradation in an extreme form:the growth of a crack under the combined action of chemistry and mechanics.An applied load opens the crack,exposes the crack front to chemical attack,and causes the crack to outrun gross degradation.We studied the crack growth in polylactic acid(PLA),a polyester in which ester bonds break by hydrolysis.We cut a crack in a PLA film using scissors,tore it using an apparatus,and recorded the crack growth using a camera through a microscope.In our testing range,the crack velocity was insensitive to load but was sensitive to humidity and pH.These findings will aid the development of degradable plastics for healthcare and sustainability.

Photolytic Model of Six Degradable Mulch Plastic Films

[Objective] This study aimed to solve the mulch plastic film pollution problems in Xinjiang, in order to provide reliable theoretical basis for the research on the degradation mechanism of biodegradable plastic films. [Method] The effect of illumination intensity on the decomposition of decomposable mulching films was investigated through simulating the field condition in laboratory. Regression analysis was employed to fit the processes of film decompositions. [Result] The weight loss ratios of different types of plastic films were closely related with the illumination. There was no sundry produced during the degradation process, but the weight was reduced, indicating that degradation produced gas, thus, ultraviolet rays had destructive effect on mulch plastic films. Different types of plastic films showed significant differences in the degradation speeds, and under the same conditions, the degradation speed of S4# with the induction period of 30 d was the fastest. With the extension of uv illumination time, the degradation became cumulative degradation process. [Conclusion] Under the uv rays, the weight loss ratio and illumination hours is regarded as a positive correlation relationship. The significant inspection shows that the data fitted degradation model can be described by the logistic model of Y = a/（1＋b×e -ct）, and all the parameters show significant differences （P0.01）.

Multi-Component Resource Recycling from Waste Light-Emitting Diode Under Hydrothermal Condition:Plastic Package Degradation,Speciation of Nano-TiO_(2),and Environmental Impact Assessment

Light emitting diodes(LEDs)have accounted for most of the lighting market as the technology matures and costs continue to reduce.As a new type of e-waste,LED is a double-edged sword,as it contains not only precious and rare metals but also organic packaging materials.In previous studies,LED recycling focused on recovering precious and strategic metals while ignoring harmful substances such as organic packaging materials.Unlike crushing and other traditional methods,hydrothermal treatment can provide an environment-friendly process for decomposing packaging materials.This work developed a closed reaction vessel,where the degradation rate of plastic polyphthalamide(PPA)was close to 100%,with nano-TiO_(2)encapsulated in plastic PPA being efficiently recovered,while metals contained in LED were also recycled efficiently.Besides,the role of water in plastic PPA degradation that has been overlooked in current studies was explored and speculated in detail in this work.Environmental impact assessment revealed that the proposed recycling route for waste LED could significantly reduce the overall environmental impact compared to the currently published processes.Especially the developed method could reduce more than half the impact of global warming.Furthermore,this research provides a theoretical basis and a promising method for recycling other plastic-packaged e-waste devices,such as integrated circuits.

Photocatalytic Degradation of Plastic Waste: Recent Progress and Future Perspectives

Microplastics are persistent anthropogenic pollutants that have become a global concern due to their widespread distribution and unfamiliar threat to the environment and living organisms. Conventional technologies are unable to fully decompose and mineralize plastic waste. Therefore, there is a need to develop an environmentally friendly, innovative and sustainable photocatalytic process that can destroy these wastes with much less energy and chemical consumption. In photocatalysis, various nanomaterials based on wide energy band gap semiconductors such as TiO2 and ZnO are used for the conversion of plastic contaminants into environmentally friendly compounds. In this work, the removal of plastic fragments by photocatalytic reactions using newly developed photocatalytic composites and the mechanism of photocatalytic degradation of microplastics are systematically investigated. In these degradation processes, sunlight or an artificial light source is used to activate the photocatalyst in the presence of oxygen.

Plasma-Induced Degradation of Polypropene Plastics in Natural Volatile Constituents of Ledum palustre Herb

Polypropene （PP） plastics can be effectively degraded by natural volatile con- stituents from Ledum palustre catalyzed by atmospheric air dielectric barrier （DBD） plasma. The electron spin resonance （ESR） result indicates that the volatile constituents produce radicals in aerobic condition energized by power sources such as light, UV, plasma and so on. The degradation is a novel chemically oxidative way and it is initiated by a series of radical reactions. Lots of active cud oxidative species, radicals, products cud high euergy electromagnetic field in plasma aggravate the degradation process. The results about PP maximum tensile strength （Crbmax） confirm this conclusion. PP plastic heavily loses its extensibility, mechanical integrity and strength in a short time after suffering a synergetic treatment of the herb extract and air DBD plasma with no toxic residues left. The components of herb extract keep almost unchanged and may be reused. This study offers a new approach to manage and recycle typical plastics.

Degradation of Oxo-Degradable-Polyethylene and Polylactic Acid Films Embodied in the Substrate of the Edible Fungus <i>Pleurotus ostreatus</i>

Degradable plastic mulch is being used to overcome the negative environmental impacts of burning and landfilling agricultural plastic waste. In this study P. ostreatus was used to model the capacity of a vegetal species to degrade conventional and degradable plastic films. Plastics studied were oxo-degradable polyethylene (OXO-PE), UV-irradiated oxo-degradable polyethylene (UV-OXO-PE), polylactic acid (PLA) and conventional polyethylene (C-PE). The cultivation of P. ostreatus resulted in a reduction in the median of weight (78.2% - 80.2%) and volume (56.1% - 60.1%) of the substrate (wheat straw). Degradation of the plastics embodied was evidenced by a reduction in the median of the elongation at break (OXO-PE 475% to 109%, UV-OXO-PE 23% to 8%, PLA 596% to 398% and C-PE 505% to 304%) and an increase in the median of the carbonyl index (OXO-PE 0.062 to 0.114, UV-OXO-PE 0.098 to 0.145 and PLA 0.024 to 0.034). The Kruskal-Wallis test found no statistical difference (p = 0.384) between the medians of the biological efficiency for substrates containing plastics and the substrate without plastic. In conclusion, plastics embodied in the substrates used for cultivation of P. ostreatus are degraded and the degradation of these plastics does not affect the short term growth of P. ostreatus.

A New Kind of Renewable Energy: Production of Aromatic Hydrocarbons Naphtha Chemical by Thermal Degradation of Polystyrene (PS) Waste Plastic

Polystyrene (PS) waste plastic to renewable energy or naphtha grade fuel production through fractional distillation process was applied and PS liquefaction temperature range was 250?C - 430?C and fractional column temperature was 110?C - 135?C for naphtha grade fuel separation. The thermal degradation of PS waste plastic to renewable energy or naphtha grade chemical production was without adding any kind of cracking catalyst and without vacuum system. Polystyrene waste plastic is not bio-degradable and its can remain long period of landfill and creating gas emission for that reason its major cause climate change. For experimental purpose raw sample was use 1 kg of PS waste plastic and experiment was performed under Labconco fume hood and experiment was fully closed system, whole experiment was performed into stainless steel reactor. Produced fuel was analysis by gas chromatography and mass spectrometer, FT-IR and DSC. Analysis result indicate for fuel compounds chemical structure, compound band energy and enthalpy, delta H value. Produced fuel sulfur content less then environmental protection agency (EPA) level and fuel could be use for chemical feedstock refinery for further modification. By using this technology can reduce some foreign oil dependency and boost up renewable energy sector all over the world.

Gastric carboxylesterases of the edible crab Cancer pagurus (Crustacea, Decapoda) can hydrolyze biodegradable plastics

A promising strategy to counteract the progressing plastic pollution of the environment can involve the replacement of persistent plastics with biodegradable materials.Biodegradable polymers are enzymatically degradable by various hydrolytic enzymes.However,these materials can reach the environment in the same way as conventional plastics.Therefore,they are accessible to terrestrial,freshwater,and marine biota.Once ingested by marine organisms,highly active enzymes in their digestive tracts may break down biodegradable compounds.We incubated microparticles of five different biodegradable plastics,based on polylactictic acid(PLA),polybutylene succinate(PBS),polybutylene adipate terephthalate(PBAT)and polyhydroxybutyrate-co-valerate(PHBV),in-vitro with the gastric fluid of the edible crab Cancer pagurus and evaluated the hydrolysis rates by pH Stat titration.A plastic blend of PLA with PBAT showed the highest hydrolysis rate.The enzymes in the gastric fluid of crabs were separated by anion exchange chromatography.Fractions with carboxylesterase activity were identified using fluorescent methylumbelliferyl(MUF)-derivatives.Pooled fractions with high carboxylesterase activity also hydrolyzed a PLA/PBAT plastic blend.Carboxylesterases showed molecular masses of 40–45 kDa as determined by native gel electrophoresis(SDS-PAGE).Our study demonstrated that digestive carboxylesterases in the gastric fluid of C.pagurus exhibit a high potential for hydrolyzing certain biodegradable plastics.Since esterases are common in the digestive tract of organisms,it seems likely that other invertebrates possess the ability to hydrolyze biodegradable plastics.

Municipal Waste Plastics Conversion into Aviation Fuel

Aviation fuel is in great demand globally. The increased demand and high price for energy sources are driving efforts to convert natural non-renewable organic compounds into useful hydrocarbon fuel materials such as in form of aviation fuel. Alternate sources to these non-renewable hydrocarbon fuels are important and necessary. Much of these alternative sources are focused on biomass however, there are strong benefits of deriving fuels from waste plastic materials. Thermal processes can be used to convert waste plastics into hydrocarbon fuels like aviation fuel, which have unlimited applications in airline industries, as well as in transportation and power generation industries. These thermal processes are used to break down the long carbon chains found in plastics into the shorter chains in a temperature range from 300-450 ℃. This method has been carried out in succession in previous experiments. This simple and economically viable process has been developed to convert the hydrocarbon polymers of waste plastics into the short and medium chain hydrocarbons of liquid fuels. Based on the initial characterization, a fractionated portion of the developed fuel shows properties similar to some of the commercially available aviation fuels.

ENHANCEMENT OF RESISTANCE TO OXIDATIVE DEGRADATION OF NATURAL RUBBER THROUGH LATEX DEGRADATION

A fully characterised natural rubber latex was subjected to mechanical degradation by stirring at intervals. The resistance to oxidative degradation of the different samples were studied by measuring the Plasticity retention indices (PRI). The results show that there is an enhancement of the PRI from 57% for the undegraded rubber to 79% for the one-hour degraded sample. Further degradation resulted in decrease of PRI as time of degradation increased. Therefore, the one-hour degraded sample is a special rubber with high oxidation resistance which is of great importance in engineering. (Author abstract) 9 Refs.

De-polymerization of Waste Polymers to Produce Hydrocarbon Fuel Utilizing Thermal Degradation

Waste plastics are one of the biggest environmental concerns the world faces today. Waste plastics exposure to the environment is very hazardous. Over time waste plastics photo-degrade and become very tiny dust particles. These dust particles contain very harmful compounds including benzene, sulfur, carbon and many others. According to studies, waste plastic pollutions are one of the biggest reasons for the depletion of the ozone layer and contributor of global warming. Many scientists have been trying to figure out how to utilize these waste plastics and convert them into useful energy sources. It is possible to convert waste plastics into energy because they are made from petroleum. Scientists have succeeded in developing many methods including pyrolysis, catalytic cracking, thermal degrading and others. The purpose of this experiment is to convert these environmentally harmful waste materials into useful energy source using simple and viable methods. A particular thermal degradation process was successful in extracting fuel from waste plastics at 370-420 ~C. In this paper we will discuss our performed experiment and provide detailed analysis of the produced fuel. Thorough instrumental analysis of the produced fuel showed very considerable results including high energy contents, low levels of harmful emissions and compatibility with various types of existing appliances.

全生物降解地膜对湖南不同地区果蔬生长的影响

针对塑料地膜使用造成土壤环境污染的问题,研究以白色/黑色全生物降解地膜和普通塑料地膜为参试材料,在湖南省长沙市、沅江市、汉寿县等地区开展了西瓜、莴苣、秋葵等作物的覆膜试验,探究全生物降解地膜对不同作物的生长、品质、产量及土壤性质等指标的影响,观察全生物降解地膜的降解情况。结果发现,两种全生物降解地膜对湖南各地区果蔬生产均起到提质增效的作用。沅江地区黑色降解地膜覆盖栽培西瓜,西瓜单瓜重增加25.8%,叶片数增加45.5%,显著高于未覆膜处理;覆盖白色降解地膜的秋葵叶片长度比对照高42.1%,叶片宽度比对照高55.9%,叶片数增加43.2%,产量增加55.5%。普通塑料地膜在作物收获后未能降解,白色和黑色全生物降解地膜的降解率分别为80.3%~90.7%和63.0%~80.3%。综合不同地区的试验结果,认为两种降解地膜均可作为普通塑料地膜的潜在替代品,具有较大的推广前景。

昆虫及肠道微生物降解塑料的研究现状及机制分析

综述昆虫及肠道微生物降解塑料的研究现状及作用机制。根据目前的研究现状,考虑降解过程中多因素的影响,提出降解塑料的两种思路:思路一从现有能够降解塑料的昆虫中筛选降解率高的昆虫,从昆虫肠道分离可降解塑料的菌株,富集菌株,制作菌球,配合紫外线、pH、温度、机械粉碎、降解的基质等多因素和能够改变塑料疏水性的物质,提高塑料降解率;思路二利用NGS(Next Generation Sequencing,NGS)、气相色谱-质谱联用技术、凝胶渗透色谱仪等技术,结合蛋白质组学、代谢组学、转录组学等组学,研究昆虫及肠道微生物降解塑料的关键节点和蛋白质,降解时酶的触发机制,昆虫摄食塑料时内分泌调控机制,异源异属的微生物共协降解机制,为昆虫及肠道微生物降解塑料提供研究思路。

“双碳”目标下农业废弃物资源化实施新路径

“碳达峰”和“碳中和”是我国的重大国家战略,作为第一产业的农业在这一战略目标的实现过程中发挥着至关重要的作用。而农业领域“双碳”目标的推进中农业废弃物的资源化又是重要的一环。本文阐述了农业废弃物除传统的“五料化”利用技术之外的几种资源化新路径,包括将农业废弃物定向转化为高附加值化学品和液体燃料、农业废弃物制备生物炭及其他功能化碳材料、农业废弃物制备可燃气以及农业废弃物制备生物质基可降解塑料等,并简要提出了这些农业废弃物资源化新路径需要进一步提升的问题及在实施过程中如何实现最大程度的碳减排,从而最大程度地促进农业领域“双碳”战略目标的实现。

高性能高分子材料体系自立自强发展战略研究

高性能高分子材料具有高强高模、高绝缘、耐腐蚀、耐辐照或绿色低碳等特点,是保障国家安全和国民经济发展的战略性材料之一,广泛应用于航空航天、电子电器、生物医疗等重要领域。本文系统梳理了高性能树脂及工程塑料、有机纤维、生物基树脂及可降解材料、特种橡胶及弹性体四大类高性能高分子材料中的重点品种,分析了国内外重点品种的发展现状和特点。研究发现,目前我国在高性能高分子材料方面已建立起比较完备的化工原料–合成–加工改性–制品应用上下游产业体系,但同时也存在关键原料保障不足、产品应用开发有待拓展等问题。在此基础上,从加强技术创新、推进关键原料保障、组建创新联合体等方面提出对策建议,以期为我国高性能高分子材料体系发展提供参考。

红树林沉积物聚乙烯降解菌的筛选和降解特性

【目的】探究湛江市麻章区红树林沉积物中微生物对聚乙烯(PE)塑料的降解特性,丰富红树林塑料降解菌种类。【方法】在湛江市麻章区红树林的高、中、低潮带随机选取9个样点,并采用五点采样法从红树林表层2~5 cm的沉积物中取样。将采集到的沉积物样本在以聚乙烯为唯一碳源的无机盐培养基中进行富集、分离、纯化,以筛选出能够降解PE的菌株,并通过显微形态分析、分子鉴定等方法确定其种属;通过测定生长曲线、失重率、以及分析官能团变化来验证菌株对PE塑料的降解性能。【结果与结论】从沉积物中共筛选出K1-1、K1-2和K1-3三株PE降解能力较强的菌,分别为威尼斯不动杆菌(Acinetobacter venetianus)、Pseudomonas juntendi和维德曼芽孢杆菌(Bacillus wiedmannii)。在120 d的培养周期中,这些菌株的生长曲线均呈抛物线形态。经三株菌作用后,PE表面生成羟基,并形成氨基和羟基化合物,羟基取代羰基,导致PE表观和内部结构明显改变。经120 d处理后,PE膜的失重率分别为6.42%、5.38%和5.73%,其中K1-1菌株处理后PE塑料的失重率相较于目前报道的红树林沉积物中最高降解效率菌株Bacillus gottheilii处理后塑料的失重率提升3.55%。威尼斯不动杆菌(A.venetianus)在PE塑料降解上具有一定潜力,这丰富了湛江红树林沉积物中PE降解菌的种类,为PE塑料的生物降解提供理论支持。

基于PLC的可降解塑料片材成型自动化生产线设计

塑料片材是塑料制品中的重要组成部分,然而现有的塑料片材生产线自动化程度较低,原料主要成分为聚乙烯,难以降解。据此,采用一种新型的可降解塑料作为原料,但此原料是粉状料,无法适用于传统的粒状送料装置;由于其特点是通过挤出后离模发泡的方式成型为片材,并且原料对温度要求较高,传统挤出机无法使用此料生产。因而根据此原料特性和加工工艺设计由送料系统、挤出成型系统、牵引滚压系统、分切冲孔系统及夹取码垛系统组成的可降解塑料片材成型生产线,使用PLC和触摸屏对控制系统的硬软件进行设计。以平均生产节拍作为参考指标,此自动化产线生产效率提高了26.5%,为可降解塑料产品的规模应用提供了技术支撑。

聚乳酸塑料在淡水沉积物中的降解过程

为探究商用聚乳酸(PLA)可生物降解塑料在淡水沉积物中的降解过程,以主要成分为PLA的可生物降解塑料袋(PLAB)、塑料吸管(PLAS)以及塑料杯(PLAC)为研究对象,构建了室内沉积物实验体系,研究了3种塑料片表面性质的变化,分析了塑料片表面生物膜及微生物的响应.结果表明,180d后塑料片表面变得更加粗糙,其中PLAB表面出现大量不规则凸起、裂缝和孔洞并存在质量损失(7.30%),表现出最高的降解程度.同时,仅PLAB的红外光谱明显变化,其C=O与C-O等特征峰峰强增大,羰基指数升高13.65%;XPS光谱中PLAB和PLAS的O/C值升高了13.89%和5.17%,且3种塑料片的RO-C=O相对含量均降低,说明3种塑料都发生了降解.实验结束时,塑料片表面生物膜富集了PLA降解菌(假单胞菌属)以及可能驱动PLA降解的脱硫杆菌微生物.PLAB具有荧光强度最强的成熟生物膜且其表层沉积物生物膜生物量显著高于对照组(P<0.05).PLAB可能因其表面最为粗糙而促进了附着生物膜的形成及周围微生物的生长,同时PLAB含有水解速率更高的聚己二酯对苯二甲酸丁二醇酯(PBAT)组分,进而表现出最高的降解程度.此外,PLA塑料片的加入提高了表层沉积物的微生物多样性,改变了优势门类的相对丰度并可能影响元素循环.

生物基塑料包装需氧生物降解研究进展

综述了生物基塑料包装组分、应用现状及趋势,分析了微生物的需氧降解环境条件以及影响塑料生物降解性的因素,指出目前降解过程中的问题及不足,对未来可降解生物基材料的普遍应用作出展望性分析。