Scientists have been working on developing adhesives for the marine environment that are inspired by organisms that fix themselves to underwater surfaces, like mussels. These catechol-based glues are easily oxidized and so eventually lose their adhesiveness, making them less than satisfactory for their intended purpose. lire plus…

Next-generation polymers developed in the lab must become stretchable and self-healing to form novel skin-like sensory devices to meet the demands of futuristic electronic skin applications. Although researchers have made notable advances in skin-inspired electronic materials, it is challenging to include desired functions into an active semiconductor for improved sensing. In a new report on Science Advances, Jin Young Oh and an interdisciplinary research team in the departments of Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Research, Electrical Engineering, Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering in the U.S. and South Korea, developed a strain-sensitive, stretchable and autonomous self-healing semiconductor film. lire plus…

A team of researchers from the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia, both in Canada, has developed a new kind of glue that is able to bond polyethylene materials together. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group explains how they created a carbene crosslinker with two diazirine motifs. Felix de Zwart, Johan Bootsma and, Bas de Bruin with the University of Amsterdam have published a Perspective piece in the same journal issue outlining the work by the team. lire plus…

La fédération des entreprises du recyclage Federec fait le point sur la collecte et le recyclage des plastiques en France en 2018. Si la collecte augmente légèrement, le chiffre d’affaires baisse en raison d’une saturation du marché européen sur les plastiques de basse qualité faute de débouchés suffisants. lire plus…

Everybody is talking about microplastics. But the amount of microplastics in air and water is small compared to another polymer that pollutes our air and water — and therefore our organism: Micro rubber. These are the finest particles from tyre abrasion, which enter our soil and air via the road surface or are removed by artificial turf. Empa researchers have now calculated that over the last 30 years, from 1988 to 2018, around 200,000 tonnes of micro rubber have accumulated in our environment in Switzerland. This is an impressive figure that has often been neglected in the discussions on microplastics. lire plus…

A microscopic polymer in the form of a common kitchen implement could give industry exquisite control over coatings. Bottlebrush copolymers have long been a topic of study for Rafael Verduzco, a chemical and biomolecular engineer at Rice University’s Brown School of Engineering. Now, he and his collaborators have developed models and methods to refine surface coatings to make them, for instance, more waterproof or more conductive. lire plus…

Evonik has announced the commercial launch of the world’s first bioresorbable portfolio of PLA-PEG copolymers for use in implantable medical device applications. The innovative portfolio expands Evonik’s ability to help medical device customers enhance the safety, biocompatibility and performance of their implantable products, and further strengthens the Company’s growth engine Health & Care. lire plus…

A research group at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, has developed an efficient process for breaking down any plastic waste to a molecular level. The resulting gases can then be transformed back into new plastics – of the same quality as the original. The new process could transform today’s plastic factories into recycling refineries, within the framework of their existing infrastructure. lire plus…