Nylon Eaters – Microscopic helpers recycle plastic waste

Bacterium “eats” individual building blocks of different types of nylon and converts them into value-added products

12-Feb-2025 - A team of scientists from the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences – Biotechnology at Forschungszentrum Jülich worked together with the company Novonesis to develop a bacterium that “eats” individual building blocks of different types of nylon and converts them into value-added products. The results ...

Research team develops process for bio-based nylon

Electrons and microbes are the decisive factor in this

05-Jul-2023 - Until now, nylon has been produced from petroleum-based raw materials. However, this is quite harmful to the environment because non-renewable fossil resources are used, a great deal of energy is required, and climate-damaging nitrous oxide is emitted during production. A research team from the ...

Finally: Resistant plastic can be recycled

New milestone: researchers recycle Nylon-6 at mild temperatures and without toxic chemicals

21-Dec-2022 - Nylon-6 is a tough, non-biodegradable plastic that cannot be recycled by conventional methods. A new way has now been introduced by a team from the USA in the journal Angewandte Chemie: with an easily accessible lanthanum trisamido catalyst, Nylon-6 can be depolymerized highly selectively, nearly ...

Swirl power: how gentle body movement will charge your mobile phone

Scientists have found a way to generate electricity from nylon, raising hopes that the clothes on our backs will become an important source of energy

10-Nov-2020 - Researchers have found a way to produce nylon fibres that are smart enough to produce electricity from simple body movement, paving the way for smart clothes that will monitor our health through miniaturised sensors and charge our devices without any external power source. This discovery - a ...

Nylon as a building block for transparent electronic devices?

21-Aug-2019 - Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P) led by Dr. Kamal Asadi have solved a four decade long challenge of producing very thin nylon films that can be used for instance in electronic memory components. The thin nylon films are several 100 times thinner than human hair ...

Antiseptic resistance in bacteria could lead to next-gen plastics

Ancient protein pumps could be key to new green polymers

15-Aug-2019 - The molecular machinery used by bacteria to resist chemicals designed to kill them could also help produce precursors for a new generation of nylon and other polymers, according to new research by scientists from Australia and the UK. "Resistance to artificial antiseptics appears to be a lucky ...

Large-scale window material developed for PM2.5 capture and light tuning

21-Feb-2019 - Tuning the light intensity and reducing the concentration of atmospheric particulate matter (PM) in commercial buildings are both crucial to keep indoor people comfortable and healthy. While, the intelligent smart windows fabricated on the flexible transparent electrodes can change its ...

From the scent of roses to nylon and plastics

Enzyme for plastics production from renewable raw materials

25-Apr-2016 - Beguiling scents, sober facts: scents emanating from plants are almost always monoterpenes and monoterpene alcohols, the essential oils of plants are natural hydrocarbon compounds. For instant, geraniol is the tempting fragrant alcohol of roses. Researchers of the Max Planck Institute for Marine ...

A perfect material for air filters

03-Mar-2016 - A research team from the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics of the Russian Academy of Sciences have synthesized the material that is perfect for protection of respiratory organs, analytical research and other practical purposes. An almost weightless fabric made of nylon ...

Strong fibers: Ceresana presents market study on polyamides

22-Apr-2015 - Tear-resistant fibers, unbreakable components: Polyamides are among the most versatile plastics. Especially the types polyamide 6 and polyamide 66 are important. They vary in their chemical constitution. "In 2014, global revenues of 24.4 billion US$ were achieved with these two polyamide types", ...