New Plastic Disappears with Ultraviolet Light

Imagine plastic that actually disappeared. Sounds impossible, right? Plastic populates our world in the form of electronics, packaging and vehicles and once discarded, it ends up permanently in our environment. Now, though, scientists may be able to create a new type of plastic that can be broken down when exposed to a specific type of light.

In this case, the researchers focused on biomass, using oilseed from agricultural crops, cellulose, lignin and sucrose to generate building blocks of molecules that are made into polymers to create plastics. More specifically, the researchers used fructose in order to create a solution of molecules which was then converted to a plastic. Then, the researchers exposed the plastic to ultraviolet light at 350 nanometers for three hours. This degraded the plastic and reduced it back to the soluble building block molecules from which it began.

"Real sustainability involves breaking it back into the building blocks," said Mukund Sibi, one of the researchers, in a news release. "We have shown that we can break it down into the building blocks and re-make the polymer."

Essentially, they were able to create a plastic that could be degraded easily. This, in particular, offers the potential for eventual products that could lessen overall dependence on fossil fuels and decrease the amount of raw materials needed.

"Our strategy has the potential to build novel materials from biomass that are degradable with light after usage, mitigating the stress of unwanted chemicals in our environment," said Sivaguru Jayaraman, one of the researchers. "Studies to address these aspects are currently underway in our laboratories."

The findings are published in the journal Angewandte Chemie: International Edition.

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