{"id":16695,"date":"2022-05-24T09:41:01","date_gmt":"2022-05-24T13:41:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/?p=16695"},"modified":"2022-05-31T12:30:59","modified_gmt":"2022-05-31T16:30:59","slug":"designing-sustainable-plastics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2022\/05\/designing-sustainable-plastics\/","title":{"rendered":"Designing Sustainable Plastics"},"content":{"rendered":"\"\"\n

Recycling plastic products is a challenge. Not only are a limited number of types of plastic recyclable, but because the recycling process also breaks down polymer chains and degrades the materials\u2019 quality, many can only be recycled a few times. As a result, recycled plastics tend to be suitable for use only in low-value products, such as single-use grocery bags.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A new type of plastic could change that. A team led by Whiting School engineer Thao “Vicky” Nguyen<\/a>, a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering<\/a> and a member of both the Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute<\/a> and the Institute for NanoBioTechnology<\/a>, is developing an approach that promises to turn difficult-to-recycle plastics into a tougher material suitable for use in high-performance and high-value products. The work is funded through a four-year, $1.8 million grant that is part of the National Science Foundation\u2019s Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future program<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to yield a plastic material that is stronger and tougher than conventional recycled plastics and that can have the same consistent properties as traditional plastics,\u201d says Nguyen. \u201cWe are hopeful that creating sustainable plastics will reduce the environmental impact of plastics production.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The team will produce the material by melting and blending two common but difficult-to-recycle plastic polymers: polyethylene and isotactic polypropylene. The researchers are developing a computational, data-driven methodology called Materials Architected by Adaptive Processing, or MAAP, to design the microstructure of the blend and control its processing, ensuring the production of high-value plastics with consistent strength and toughness properties.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The researchers note that their approach considers the variability of recycled plastic materials. For example, if plastic pellets from a recycling plant have significant impurities, the resulting polymer melt will be thinner. Their method should be able to adjust the temperature and pressure conditions of the processing line to produce a consistent blend.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Such an innovation will give plastics a second life; the recycled plastic created by MAAP will be exceptionally durable, meaning the material can be used in everything from appliances and construction products to personal protective equipment, like body armor, adds Nguyen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The team hopes MAAP will allow other researchers to turn recycled materials into plastic polymer blends with superior properties.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the broader goals for the project is to develop a database to make materials data more accessible for everyone,\u201d says Nguyen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recycling plastic products is a challenge. Not only are a limited number of types of plastic recyclable, but because the recycling process also breaks down polymer chains and degrades the materials\u2019 quality, many can only be recycled a few times. As a result, recycled plastics tend to be suitable for use only in low-value products,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":17086,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-impact","issue-spring-2022"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDesigning Sustainable Plastics - JHU Engineering Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2022\/05\/designing-sustainable-plastics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Designing Sustainable Plastics - JHU Engineering Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Recycling plastic products is a challenge. 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