IT COULD spell the end of plastic pollution. A novel polymer that breaks down in response to certain chemical triggers could be the key to developing a self-destructing plastic bag.
Plastics have gained a reputation as an environmental menace as some can take hundreds of years to biodegrade, posing a danger to wildlife and clogging the seas.
Now Scott Phillips and Wanji Seo at Pennsylvania State University in University Park have developed a self-destructing plastic that could lead to more wildlife-friendly products. Working with the polymer poly(phthalaldehyde), they attached one of two chemical end groups or “triggers” – either…
