New plastic to make life fantastic

Researchers have developed a collection of new plastics that are recyclable and adaptable - and the discovery began with a laboratory mistake. These include strong stiff plastics and flexible gels that can mend themselves if torn. The findings, reported in the journal Science, could lead to cheaper and greener cars, planes, and electronics. It is the first time that durable "thermoset" plastic has been produced in a recyclable form. Dr Jeanette Garcia, from IBM's Almaden Research Center in San Jose, stumbled upon the first new class of thermosets in many years when she accidentally left one of three components out of a reaction. "I had this chunk of plastic, and I had to figure out what it was," Dr Garcia told the BBC. "I had to smash my round-bottomed flask with a hammer." That chunk of plastic, produced from unexpectedly simple ingredients, proved to be tremendously hard and stable. Crucially, it could be digested in acid, reverting to its original components. This digestion reaction allows the chemical building blocks, or monomers, to be reused, which is a good thing because it can be turned into this and then into that and so on. The ability to rework saves a tremendous amount of money and mitigates waste, because when a large or expensive component is damaged or reaches the end of its useful life, it can now be repaired or recycled instead of thrown away like Man United did with David Moyes.