Recycling Plastic into Oil: A New Solution To Our Energy Crisis?
Black Silicon Increases Solar Panel Efficiency
New Process Makes Tire Recycling Profitable
New Device Uses Robotics to Improve Plastic Recycling
Plug-In Prius Hybrid Vehicles Hit the Road in North America
Lithium-Ion Battery Capacity Increased 10X with Silicon Nanopores
Tree Growth Rings Helping to Assess Climate Change
Converting Greenhouse Gas Into Carbon Monoxide, a Useful Resource
The Secret to a Better Solar Cell? A Trillion Holes
MIT Creates Virus to Split Water Molecule & Produce Hydrogen Fuel
Hybrid Lexus Bike - Your New Green Status Symbol?
Volkswagen Golf Blue E-Motion to Debut at Los Angeles Auto Show
Garbage Patches are spreading to the Great Lakes
Scientists Double Solar Cell Efficiency
Benjamin Moore - Sustainable Paint in Many Vivid Colors!
Scientists Develop New Way to Tackle Plastic Recycling Plague
Plastic is the bubonic plague of environmentalists. Its use has spread as quickly as the plague and it has left behind literal mountains of plastic bags, bottles, cell phone housings, and other plastic detritus that will take hundreds of years to degrade. Plastic is deadly to the animals that strangle on it, and to the sea creatures that swallow it. It is a recycling nightmare because of the expense. One big problem is that not all plastic polymers require the same recycling process.
One possible solution to recycling and the plastic plague is to melt an assortment of plastics to 700°C. The extreme temperature causes the pressure to increase to 34 atmospheres, at which point the hydrogen-carbon bonds in the polymer chain begin to break down. When the hydrogen gas is removed, micro-spheres of carbon are left behind. Called carbon black, these micro-spheres can then be part of a new recycling process when used in a variety of useful ways. Carbon black is a common paint colorant, and can also be used as a lubricant, in tires, as well as an ingredient to increase the efficiency of lithium-ion battery anodes.
This relatively cost-effective process was developed at Illinois’ Argonne National Laboratory. It holds promise as a viable means of flattening those plastic waste mountains and slaying the recycling dragon.
Recommended for Further Reading:
- Recycling Plastic into Oil: A New Solution To Our Energy Crisis?
- Black Silicon Increases Solar Panel Efficiency
- New Process Makes Tire Recycling Profitable
- New Device Uses Robotics to Improve Plastic Recycling
- Plug-In Prius Hybrid Vehicles Hit the Road in North America
- Lithium-Ion Battery Capacity Increased 10X with Silicon Nanopores
- Tree Growth Rings Helping to Assess Climate Change
- Converting Greenhouse Gas Into Carbon Monoxide, a Useful Resource
- The Secret to a Better Solar Cell? A Trillion Holes
- MIT Creates Virus to Split Water Molecule & Produce Hydrogen Fuel
- Hybrid Lexus Bike - Your New Green Status Symbol?
- Volkswagen Golf Blue E-Motion to Debut at Los Angeles Auto Show
- Garbage Patches are spreading to the Great Lakes
- Scientists Double Solar Cell Efficiency
- Benjamin Moore - Sustainable Paint in Many Vivid Colors!
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Scientists Develop New Way to Tackle Plastic Recycling Plague http://t.co/WMBuqukd #eco #cleantech #greenbuilding #renewableenergy
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RT @buildaroo: Scientists develop new method 2 #recycle #plastic http://bit.ly/bFzduJ #environment #recycling
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RT @buildaroo: Scientists develop new method 2 #recycle #plastic http://buildaroo.com/news/article/scient... #environment #recycling
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