Biomass bioplastic
February 22, 2012
By
David Manly
Feb. 22, 2012, Utrecht, The Netherlands - Researchers at the University of Utrecht, through a collaboration with Dow Chemicals, have devised a way to create plastic from biomass.
Feb. 22, 2012, Utrecht, The Netherlands – Researchers at the University
of Utrecht, through a collaboration with Dow Chemicals, have devised a
way to create plastic from biomass.
This is achieved though the use of a nanocatalyst (consisting of iron
particles) and SynGas, a
gaseous mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The gas passes over the catalyst, which triggers a reaction and is then converted to ethylene and propylene, which are chemically similar to petroleum.
One of the largest benefits, according to an article from Tree Hugger, is that these two chemicals lack all the hazards present within petroleum.
"In fact, they may have advantages in health and safety,
because they do not need to be purified of the many carcinogenic and
otherwise hazardous constituents of petroleum."
For the complete article that details the process, please click here.
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