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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : LSU RESEARCHERS CREATE LOW-COST METHOD TO RECYCLE PLASTIC

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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share LSU researchers have created a new, low-cost way to break down plastic, a potential breakthrough that could save billions of dollars and eliminate billions of tons of plastic pollution. Getting plastics to the recycling plant is only half the battle. The other half is reusing that plastic waste to create new products,” said James Dorman, program manger with the U.S. Department of Energy and former LSU Chemical Engineering professor. “Some estimates show as much as 95 percent of plastics in the U.S. ends up in landfills and incinerators. Our process breaks down commercial plastics, including polystyrene and high- and low-density polyethylene, so recycled material can be seamlessly integrated into new products. Dorman and LSU Chemical Engineering Professor Kerry Dooley use electromagnetic induction heating along with special magnetic materials and catalysts to break down different types of plastic. Electromagnetic waves melt the plastics from the inside out, w...
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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : New paper batteries biodegrade in six weeks, offers safer energy storage

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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share With a production cost at just 10% of lithium-ion batteries, Flint’s innovation aims for global scalability. Flint, a Singapore-based company specializing in the development of sustainable energy solutions, is making waves in the world of battery technology with its cutting-edge paper batteries. These batteries promise to deliver impressive advantages over traditional energy storage options, thanks to their flexibility, lightweight design, safety, and eco-friendly features.  At CES 2025, Flint introduced this pioneering technology, which has the potential to change the way we store and use energy. What makes paper batteries unique? Flint’s paper batteries are a type of quasi-solid battery, utilizing an innovative hydrogel ring that acts as both a separator and an electrolyte within a piece of paper. This setup differentiates it from conventional lithium-ion batteries by replacing toxic and geopolitically sensitive materials like lithium, cobalt, and nic...
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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : Removing microplastics with engineered bacteria

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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share Researchers altered bacteria found in wastewater treatment, where microplastics can enter environment Microplastics can go right through wastewater treatment plants, and researchers have engineered bacteria commonly found in there to break down this pollution before it can persist in the environment. Researchers from the University of Waterloo added DNA to several species of bacteria found in wastewater, allowing them to biodegrade polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a common plastic found in carpet, clothing and containers for food and beverages. PET plastics take hundreds of years to degrade in the environment. Over time, they break down into microplastics, pieces of plastic less than 5 mm long, which enter the food chain. Chemicals in these plastics are associated with insulin resistance, cancer and decreased reproductive health. “Think of these bacteria that already exist in water systems to clean up microplastics as biorobots that can be programmed to get...
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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share :New study finds ocean plastic could be recycled in urban waste systems

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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share In response to the millions of tons of marine litter, mostly plastics, floating on the oceans, the need to manage this waste effectively is more urgent than ever. Faced with this reality, the UPV/EHU’s Materials + Technologies research group decided to take the first step. Classifying Marine Waste as Urban Waste: We assessed a practical approach: the possibility of integrating plastics collected from the sea into the urban waste system. This study, which is part of a PhD thesis, explores the possibility of managing this waste efficiently in current urban recycling infrastructures,explained Cristina Peña, lecturer in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering, Gipuzkoa (UPV/EHU) and author of the work. Unlike municipal solid waste, marine litter does not yet have a systematized management system; it is managed on a very ad hoc basis and within the framework of very specific projects. “It is important to bear in mind...
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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : EU – Regulations on the use of BPA in food contact materials and products

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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share EU Bans Bisphenol A in Food Contact Materials The European Commission published Commission Regulation (EU) 2024/3190 on 31 December 2025, addressing the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in food contact materials and products. Scope of the Regulations: Commission Regulation (EU) 2024/3190 applies to materials and articles that come into contact with food. These include varnishes, coatings, plastics, and other items where bisphenols and their derivatives may be present. The regulation specifically targets substances classified as hazardous under harmonized EU standards, particularly bisphenol A (BPA), due to its endocrine-disrupting properties and potential health risks. The regulation builds on and amends the earlier Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 and repeals Regulation (EU) 2018/213 to provide a more comprehensive and updated framework. Requirements The regulation prohibits the use of BPA and its salts in the production and marketing of food contact materials and articl...
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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : Friction and Wear problems in Polymers

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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share While in metals, wear is found to be strongly correlated with surface hardness (something not difficult to believe honestly), things are way more complex when it comes to plastics. As shown in the attached classical graph, wear kinetics in polymers seems to correlate very well with the reciprocal of Stress@break X Strain@break. Something known as the Ratner-Lancaster correlation. So, for best performance, you want a strong polymer (which also means a very stiff one due to another typical correlation) with the highest elongation@break. And guess what ? Elongation@break invariably decreases when elastic modulus goes up ! So this points to the fact that it is intrinsically very difficult to optimize the wear performance of polymers or find that elusive rare performer. The result is that solutions are typically based on complex formulations using multiple fillers, some to increase strength, some to create a "slippery" transfer film mitigating the role...
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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : Alabama lab cooks up powerful solution for plastic scrap:

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Today's KNOWLEDGE Share The University of Alabama has scored a breakthrough that could be a recycling game-changer for multiple types of plastics. ‘Plastic recycling is commonplace but imperfect,’ says Dr. Jason Bara, who leads a PET depolymerisation R&D project at the university. He had been working with amines for a couple of years to break down plastics as part of a National Science Foundation grant in an attempt to reduce plastic waste. Recently, he tried a new approach ‘just to see what would happen’. ‘The plastic is gone’ A key to his discovery is imidazole and its related compounds; a group of organic molecules that have proven to be highly effective in the chemolysis process. Previously, plastic depolymerisation had been achieved using water, alcohols, and amines. Bara notes that nothing in the literature pointed to the power of imidazoles as a recycling agent. ‘I’ve been working with imidazole for much of my career. It’s pretty amazing how versatile it is,’ he says. On...
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