defined, biodegradable molecules made from renewable resources in an environmentally responsible way,” IBM said in a release. The “green chemistry” breakthrough using “organic catalysts” results in plastics that could be repeatedly recycled, instead of only once as is the case with petroleum-based plastic made using metal oxide catalysts. Plant plastics could also be made “biocompatible” to improve the targeting of drugs in bodies, such as cancer medicines aimed at killing cancer cells but sparing healthy ones, according to IBM. “We're exploring new methods of applying technology and our expertise in materials science to creating a sustainable, environmentally sound future,” said Almaden lab research director Josephine Cheng. Plant plastics for things such as car parts could be made at lower costs than petroleum-based plastics while materials of soda bottle quality are “competitive,” according to Narayan. Details of the work are in a paper published this week in the American Chemical Society journal Macromolecules.
