<
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2023/11/durable-plastic-pollution-easily-cleanly-degrades-with-new-catalyst/>
"Many people are familiar with the haunting images of wildlife — including sea
turtles, dolphins and seals — tangled in abandoned fishing nets.
The main issue behind Nylon-6, the plastic inside these nets, carpet and
clothing, is that it’s too strong and durable to break down on its own. So,
once it’s in the environment, it lingers for thousands of years, littering
waterways, breaking corals and strangling birds and sea life.
Now, Northwestern University chemists have developed a new catalyst that
quickly, cleanly and completely breaks down Nylon-6 in a matter of minutes —
without generating harmful byproducts. Even better: The process does not
require toxic solvents, expensive materials or extreme conditions, making it
practical for everyday applications.
Not only could this new catalyst play an important role in environmental
remediation, it also could perform the first step in upcycling Nylon-6 wastes
into higher-value products.
The research was published today in the journal
Chem."
Via
Future Crunch:
<
https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-tolerance-poland-sanitation-indonesia-restoration-dominican-republic/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
