Researchers at Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) have begun developing technology and the world's first reactor, which will make it possible to reduce the cost and speed up the process of obtaining raw materials for biodegradable plastics. The university expects to launch a pilot industrial production of biodegradable plastic as early as 2022.
"TPU chemists are developing a technology and a reactor for the continuous synthesis of monomers as a feedstock for biodegradable plastics. Such a reactor will be the first continuous high-capacity synthesis reactor in the world suitable for industrial use and producing high-quality raw materials. Technology and equipment proposed by Tomsk researchers will make it possible to reduce the cost of domestic production of biodegradable polymers," the TPU press service said.
TPU chemists have already tested their technology on a model of a glass reactor in a laboratory. And they got monomers of polylactic and polyglycolic acids. These products are raw materials for biodegradable and biodegradable plastic, which is widely used to create implants and other medical devices. Its main feature is that it eventually dissolves in the human body and is replaced by new bone tissue. Now researchers are starting to manufacture a reactor of metal.
According to the authors of the technology, the creation of a pilot industrial production of biodegradable plastic is possible as early as 2022, if Russian manufacturers are interested in introducing the technology. Researchers at the Tomsk Polytechnic University are confident that the emergence in Russia of a simple and cheaper technology for the production of monomers will create the country's own sustainable market for biodegradable plastics.
Based on DairyNews.ru.
