Microplastic pollution in the Northeast Atlantic: First long-term record from deep water layers of the open ocean

The most common plastic materials were polyethylene and PVC

06-Jul-2022 - Scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde (IOW) for the first time analysed a long-term sample series on microplastic pollution in the Northeast Atlantic from 2000 m water depth with respect to number, size, mass, material and possible origin of the particles. ...

Superworms capable of munching through plastic waste

The long-term goal is to engineer enzymes to degrade plastic waste

14-Jun-2022 - Researchers at the University of Queensland have found a species of worm with an appetite for polystyrene could be the key to plastic recycling on a mass scale. Scientists discovered the commonZophobas morio‘superworm’ can eat through polystyrene, thanks to a bacterial enzyme in their gut. Dr ...

Chemists harness the sun to upcycle plastic waste

Light, oxygen turn waste plastics into useful benzoic acid

14-Apr-2022 - Chemists at Cornell University have discovered a way to use light and oxygen to upcycle polystyrene – a type of plastic found in many common items – into benzoic acid, a product stocked in undergraduate and high school chemistry labs and also used in fragrances, food preservatives, and other ...

Supposedly similar microplastic particles show different levels of toxicity

"Our study impressively shows how problematic it is to make generalised statements about the health or ecological effects of microplastics"

16-Dec-2021 - More and more studies worldwide are looking into the effects of microplastics, especially with regard to the environment and health. They often use spherical polystyrene microparticles and have arrived at partly contradictory results. An interdisciplinary research team at the University of ...

Breakthrough discovery: Plastics aren’t what we think

New study finds they’re a tad rubbery, paving the way for better products

20-Aug-2021 - A breakthrough by researchers at the University of South Florida (USF) and collaborating institutions around the world could pave the way for better products, such as improved batteries, automobile paint and cellphone screens. When you zoom in on many modern materials, such as those in some of ...

Superworms digest plastic, with help from their bacterial sidekicks

Polystyrene waste to break down with enzymes or bacteria?

02-Jun-2020 - Resembling giant mealworms, superworms (Zophobas atratus) are beetle larvae that are often sold in pet stores as feed for reptiles, fish and birds. In addition to their relatively large size (about 2 inches long), these worms have another superpower: They can degrade polystyrene plastic. Now, ...

Sunlight degrades polystyrene faster than expected

14-Oct-2019 - A study published by researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) shows that polystyrene, one of the world's most ubiquitous plastics, may degrade in decades or centuries when exposed to sunlight, rather than thousands of years as previously thought. "Right now, policy makers ...

Solid and Moldable: Further growth expected for the polystyrene and extruded polystyrene market

24-Apr-2019 - One of the oldest plastic types is still of great economic importance: about 90 years ago, polystyrene was first produced in Germany. To this day, most yogurt cups are made of polystyrene. Since 1950, polystyrene has also been foamed and marketed as, for example, “Styropor”. Ceresana examined the ...

Laser-induced graphene gets tough, with help

Combining conductive foam with other materials for capable new composites

15-Feb-2019 - Laser-induced graphene (LIG), a flaky foam of the atom-thick carbon, has many interesting properties on its own but gains new powers as part of a composite. The labs of Rice University chemist James Tour and Christopher Arnusch, a professor at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, ...

Speeding up electrons in semiconductors

19-Oct-2018 - Researchers from Graduate School of Bio-Applications and Systems Engineering at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT) have sped up the movement of electrons in organic semiconductor films by two to three orders of magnitude. The speedier electronics could lead to improved solar ...