Researchers at the University of Tokyo have successfully created “sustainable plastic,” which is based on an epoxy resin vitrimer.
About Vitrimer:
These represent a relatively recent category of plastics known for their impressive strength at low temperatures.
They also possess the unique ability to be reshaped numerous times when exposed to higher temperatures.
It is also partially biodegradable.
Nonetheless, they do have a notable drawback - extreme brittleness, as they cannot be stretched far before breaking.
To address this issue, researchers introduced a molecule called polyrotaxane into the plastic synthesis process, resulting in a novel plastic variant they've dubbed VPR, an abbreviation for "vitrimer incorporated with polyrotaxane."
VPR is over five times as resistant to breaking as a typical epoxy resin vitrimer.
At a high temperature of around 150 degrees Celsius, VPR starts to recombine, allowing the material to take on different forms.
It also repairs itself 15 times as fast, can recover its original memorised shape twice as fast, and can be chemically recycled 10 times as fast as the typical vitrimer.
It even biodegrades safely in a marine environment, which is new for this material.
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