Riken, Others Develop Plastic Material Dissolving in Seawater

Tokyo, Nov. 22 (Jiji Press)--A team including Japanese government-backed research institute Riken has developed a plastic material that is as strong and easy to process as conventional plastics but can be dissolved in seawater in just a few hours.

The findings were published in an online edition of the U.S. journal Science on Friday.

The international team, also including the University of Tokyo, hopes that the new material will help reduce environmental pollution, including that caused by microplastics.

Plastics are made up of polymers, which are chains of monomers. Stable and difficult to decompose due to the strong bonds between monomers, plastics accumulate within the environment when discarded.

Although biodegradable plastics have been developed, the materials tend to have problems with strength. In addition, it takes time for the materials to decompose.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]