Newly Discovered Organic Chemical Captures CO2 And Helps Creating Eco-Friendly Plastics
3 June 2010 | Green Technology | 2 Comments
A significant breakthrough has been done by researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in Singapore. They discovered some classes of organic chemicals that can bind with CO2 molecules from the atmosphere to form a new kind of plastic that is BPA (bisphenol A) free.
This new molecules called imidazoliums and N-heterocyclic carbenes captures CO2 from the air and creates more environmentally friendly, BPA-free polycarbonate plastics. Bisphenol A is an endocrine disruptor, which can copy the behavior of human body’s own hormones and could bring on negative health effects. Although it it used for building plastics for the last 50 years, it is only after some recent exposure in the mass-media that this chemical has started to be thoroughly examined in numerous studies. Some of the health related concerns are obesity, disruption of the dopaminergic system, neurological issues, thyroid function distress or breast and prostate cancer increase risks. So this newly created eco-friendly plastic could be proved to be a very important realisation, which can be used in exactly the same areas the BPA plastics are used today, from drinking bottles to any other plastic household containers.
And as small “bonus” from the researchers, the manufacturing process for this kind of organic chemical can completly do without the need of petroleum, fact which can only account for a smaller carbon footprint.
Tags: Bisphenol A, BPA, co2, eco-friendly, health issue, organic chemical, Plastic, polycarbonate, research
Terrific work! This is the type of information that should be shared around the web. Shame on the search engines for not positioning this post higher!
we should always look for eco-friendly products out there to help the environment.`’,