Heating Promises Better Bioplastics

摘要

CONVENTIONALLY PREPARED bioplastic fibers are known for their lackluster resistance to heat and moisture. In addition, producing the material on a commercial scale usually involves solvents and other expensive, time-consuming techniques. Adding a simple step — raising the temperature of bioplastic fibers — resolves these issues, and could allow manufacturers to continuously produce the biodegradable material on a scale that at least approaches petroleum-based plastic, say researchers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Neb., and Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China.