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Green Plastic Production Made Easy

    A one-step method enables scalable and more environmentally friendly production of plant-derived plastic monomers, paving the way towards the mass production of a sustainable alternative to petroleum-based materials.

    An international team, including Kiyotaka Nakajima of Hokkaido University, Japan, and EmieI Hensen of Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands, has developed an energy-efficient method to synthesize bioplastic ingredients. The new technology will contribute towards the realization of sustainable 'green products', such as completely biobased beverage bottles. This study was conducted jointly with Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation and the findings were published in ACS Catalysis.

    Biobased plastics are emerging as a next generation material and are expected to replace petroleum-derived plastics. A plant-derived polyester, called polyethylene furanoate (PEF), is a promising 100% renewables-based polymer derived from plants that can replace the giant of the plastic industry, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), due to its better physical, mechanical, and thermal properties. However, realizing large-scale PEF production is seriously hampered by an inefficient production of the monomers.

    The researchers expect the new technique will not only improve the feasibility of commercial PEF production in the chemical industry, but also help advance a more ubiquitous use of bioplastics, as well as provide insight for the development of other bio-based chemical applications from various biomass-derived carbohydrates.

(Adopted from: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/201 9/04/1 904171 02835.htm (April 6, 2019))

The team has invented ____.