Plastics industry is expected to make a revolutionary breakthrough

Plastics have gone deep into people's daily lives and have greatly enriched our material world. However, their non-degradable "rubbish" characteristics often make people difficult. An international team led by Dr. Reid READ of the University of Leeds, UK, after years of hard work, used a combination of two sets of information technology coding based on a large amount of collected data: The first group was used to design the connection between macromolecular chains, This constitutes a new polymer solvent; the second group will directly show the shape and properties of these macromolecules through chemical methods, paving the way for the design of new degradable plastics. With this micro-scale polymer operating system, Microscale Polymer Processing, scientists and technicians can design "perfect" polymer in the laboratory, laying a sound foundation for the revolutionary breakthrough in the plastics industry.

So far, the chemical industry has been using pre-research to produce a plastic, and then find a method based on its characteristics. In the process of dissolving, flowing and reshaping of plastics, the characteristics of macromolecules will change, often requiring numerous trials and randomness. The application of this technology can be designed for its special purpose when creating new plastics, saving money and time, while taking into account the dual interests of the chemical industry and the protection of the environment, all happy.

The research of this technology was jointly participated by researchers from scientific research institutes, universities and enterprises of eight member states of the European Union. The EU's seventh R&D framework project FP7 funded 3.5 million euros.