Following years of research, Teysha Technologies has developed a natural polycarbonate platform that can create fully biodegradable substitutes for existing petroleum-based plastics. This breakthrough new polymer technology could seriously reduce plastic pollution, including some generated from industrial use and manufacturing processes.
The bioplastic, called AggiePol, is derived from sustainable feedstocks and can be physically, mechanically and chemically tuned to suit the needs of its intended application. The versatile material could replace the traditional plastic used in the automotive industry as well as in medical equipment.
Teysha’s technology uses a plug-and-play system that takes monomers and co-monomers — the natural building blocks of plastics — to create an eco-friendly alternative to traditional polymers. Instead of using hydrocarbon-based petrochemicals, which are sourced from fossil fuels and generate various pollutants in the manufacturing of the material, the platform focuses on natural products, such as starches and agricultural waste products.
通过控制化学，配方和聚合条件，可以精确调整由技术创建的聚碳酸酯材料。与现有的生物塑料（例如PLA和PHA）不同，Aggiepol的降解率也可以调整，从而最大程度地减少了塑料产品的使用寿命结束后的环境影响。
“在海中，现有的塑料经常分解成微塑料颗粒，这些颗粒可以被海洋生物消耗，并最终在食物链上努力，最终进入我们的晚餐盘。”Teysha Technologies的研究。“塑料材料的最终命运以及是否必须考虑它们，因为许多塑料可以在环境或垃圾填埋场中持续数千年。
“At Teysha, we have developed a system where the main mechanism of polymer degradation is water-driven. This allows for breakdown in any environment containing sufficient moisture and not necessarily requiring microbial activity or industrial composting conditions.
“到目前为止，减少塑料污染的策略一直依赖于改变人类行为，例如鼓励回收利用并禁止某些塑料物品（例如载袋）。通过考虑在初始设计阶段的应用材料的最终命运，我们可以减少塑料所带来的环境影响，甚至是天然产品制造的塑料，并停止为我们的海洋中塑料的长期积累做出贡献。”
Filed Under:TECHNOLOGIES + PRODUCTS,Green engineering
