| Posted: January 10, 2009 |
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(Nanowerk News)
A group of Vietnamese researchers say they have developed a plastic
material that is both biodegradable and much cheaper to produce. |
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They are convenient, water resistant and cheap. These qualities make
plastic bags second to none as the packaging of choice for most
products. |
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However, they have huge disadvantages especially in how friendly they are to the environment.
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They are made from non-renewable sources – oil and gas – and they are
not biodegradable, as it takes them between 500 and 1,000 years to
decompose in natural conditions. |
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Scientists, therefore, have long been trying to create biodegradable plastic (or bioplastic) as a solution.
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| The material in the process of degrading after three months in landfill
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As part of the country’s efforts to reduce the use of plastic bags,
some local companies have imported technologies producing bioplastic
from other countries like the US and Canada for hundreds of thousand
dollars. |
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Recently, research scientists from the Ho Chi Minh City-based
University of Sciences have developed a material to make biodegradable
plastic bags (or bioplastic bags) with several advantages over the
imported ones. |
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According to the result of a project initiated four years ago, the
material not only can degrade fully in land within a short time but
also make the cost of bags produced with it much cheaper, says Truong
Phuoc Nghia, the group’s leader. |
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He says the material, known as nanocomposite, is a mix of thermoplastic
starch (made from starch), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), a kind of polymer
clay, and some food additives, adding that it is made with
nanotechnology. |
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Associate Professor Ha Thuc Huy, who directs the group, says this
allows the material to be fully biodegradable in landfill where
microorganisms will eat it up within a short time, between one to six
months. |
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PVA costs less than VND30,000 (US$1.75) per kilogram if imported in
bulk, while polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE), which are
components in bioplastic produced with foreign technologies, cost some
VND40,000 ($2.33) per kilogram, according to Nghia. |
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This plus starch from the locally abundant wheat and cassava allows
them to produce bags from the material at a much lower cost just 30
percent or so of foreign-produced ones, Nghia says. |
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Tests have shown that the material’s ductility and elasticity are the same as common plastics.
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The material, in fact, can become a redoubtable competitor to the
common plastic which is rarely reusable, according to the scientists. |
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“Nanocomposite bags can be re-used many times, if they do not come into contact with water,” Nghia says.
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However, Nghia says to make bags from the material, it is necessary to
invest in machinery to make it into plastic grains and then process and
sharpen it. |
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Huy, meanwhile, says if the group receives adequate sponsorship to do
more research on industrial production, products made of the new
material can be launched in the market within a year. |
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A project proposal has been submitted to the HCMC Department of Science
and Technology for sponsorship to continue their research, Nghia says. |
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If this does not go through, they may cooperate with a foreign partner, he adds.
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