Carbon dioxide plasticization is expected to come out of the laboratory

Scientists led by Meng Yuezhong, of the Guangzhou Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, have successfully converted carbon dioxide into degradable plastics and achieved mass production requirements. Yesterday, the pilot of the project passed the acceptance of the expert group headed by Huang Zhiyu, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The expert group believes that the catalytic efficiency of the project is at the leading international level.
Nanoscale Catalysts Are Powerful In 1969, the Japanese chemist Masahiro Inoue proposed the idea of ​​turning carbon dioxide into plastic. For the first time, he used a catalyst called "diethylzinc" to activate carbon dioxide and react carbon atoms with other compounds to produce degradable plastics. However, his use of catalysts was inefficient and costly and prevented him from carrying out large-scale industrial development. In the following 30 years, this scientific idea and achievements could not go beyond the laboratory.
Dr. Meng Yuezhong, who was returning from Canada to the Guangzhou Institute of Chemicals of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, took another approach, instead of looking for new catalysts, but managed to increase its efficiency. Dr. Meng found that if the catalyst particle can be made small enough, the contact surface with the catalyst can be large enough to finally achieve a "handshake" between the molecule and the molecule. After continuous groping, the team he headed developed a nanometer-sized catalyst. The efficiency of the catalyst is twice that of the world's highest level before, and the carbon dioxide content per ton of new plastic is about 43%, resulting in a plastic cost. It is only 8,000 yuan per ton, which is 1/2 to 1/3 of the price of plastic products of the same class in the current market.
Because the molecular structure of this plastic contains special ester bonds, it can be destroyed and fractured under the external environmental conditions such as microorganisms to achieve 100% degradation.
It is expected that the industrialization of CO2 plastics project for 10 patents is currently listed as a key project of Guangzhou science and technology, and the Guangzhou municipal government has allocated millions of dollars for funding. So far, it has applied for 10 invention patents, of which 2 are US patents (1 Item has been published), 8 items are Chinese patents (3 items have been authorized).
Even more gratifying for scientists is that this project has also been viewed by companies. After a series of investigations, Guangzhong Group plans to invest RMB 33 million to help its industrialization. The industry believes that the plastic made of carbon dioxide has good physical and chemical properties, its molecular weight is higher than 10 5th power, the glass transition temperature is higher than 40 °C, and is very suitable for use as disposable medical and food packaging materials. The transparency, degradability and high barrier properties of the carbon dioxide polymer make the cling film made from it resistant to low temperature below -80°C. Only the cling film of meat products is a huge market.
In addition, a disposable lunch box made of the plastic can be waterproof, oil-resistant, and resistant to hot water at 100 degrees, and it can prevent mildew due to moisture absorption. Disposable lunch boxes alone have a market capacity of 10,000 tons and over 30 billion yuan. At present, when China's electrical appliances are exported to Europe and America, because of the non-degradability of shock-proof foam materials, it is necessary to pay extra environmental expenses. However, if carbon dioxide-degradable plastic sheets, filling materials or shock-proof materials are used, these problems can be fundamentally solved.

â–¡ News Links Development history of carbon dioxide plasticity In 1969, a scientist at Kyoto University in Japan used diethyl zinc for the first time to make plastics. Each gram of catalyst can catalyze 0.13 to 0.7 grams of carbon dioxide.
In 1991, a university in China used glycerin as a catalyst, but it could catalyze only 0.04 to 0.16 grams of carbon dioxide per gram, even lower than the 1969 level;
In 1997, Tsinghua University in Taiwan used the above two materials in combination with other materials to increase the catalytic efficiency to more than 2 grams.
In 2000, a research institute in South Korea discovered that the catalytic effect can reach a level of 60-70 grams of carbon dioxide per gram, but the cost is too high;
From 2001 to 2003, Dr. Meng Yuezhong of the Guangzhou Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, successfully produced nano-sized catalysts through the loading technology, enabling the catalyst to catalyze 180 grams of polymer per gram of the catalyst, which is twice the world’s highest level and enables one ton of plastic. The cost of finished products fell to more than 8,000 yuan.