Plastic remains one of the most-used materials for making many of the things we use in our everyday lives. Things made of plastic can be very strong and last a long time. They also do well in extreme heat and cold. Plastic is also much lighter than metal and can easily be formed into different shapes. This makes the material ideal for countless uses across many different industries.
But the widespread use of plastics across the world is causing major problems for the environment. Plastic material is flooding landfills and causing severe damage in the world's oceans. Plastics can take hundreds of years to break down on their own. It has been estimated that even the most reusable kinds of plastic can only be recycled at a rate of 20 to 30 percent. Even when recycling is possible, the process is costly, can use a lot of energy and, in many cases, produces poor-quality materials.
But a team of researchers working at the U.S. Department of Energy says it has created a kind of plastic that could lead to products that are 100 percent recyclable. The team recently reported the discovery in a study in the journal Nature Chemistry. The researchers say the new material is a plastic polymer(聚合物) called polydiketoenamine, or PDK. The team reports that the material can be broken down in parts at the molecular level. It can then be built up again to form plastics of different shapes, textures, colors and more. The researchers say this process can be repeated over and over again—without the plastic material losing any performance or quality.
Brett Helms is a scientist who worked on the study. He said, "Then we would be able to more effectively divert plastic from landfills and the oceans." "This is an exciting time to start thinking about how to design both materials and recycling facilities to enable circular plastics." he added.
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