Degradable Polymer Rivals PP

摘要

A BIOPOLYMER produced from industrial leftovers such as waste fats offers properties very similar to those of polypropylene (PP), report researchers in Germany. However, unlike PP, the polymer — polyhydroxybutyr-ate (PHB) — fully degrades in 6-12 months, they add. Moreover, a new process enables production of PHB on an industrial scale (Figure 1), say its developers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology (IPK), Berlin.