
Plastic made from oranges
Canadian Plastics
Canadian PlasticsResearchers at Cornell University have discovered how to make plastics from citrus fruits such as oranges. Limonene...
Researchers at Cornell University have discovered how to make plastics from citrus fruits such as oranges. Limonene, a compound that makes up about 95% of the oil in orange peel, and carbon dioxide are combined with the help of a catalyst to produce a novel polymer, polylimonene carbonate, which researchers say has many of the properties of polystyrene.
"The polymer is a repeating unit, much like a strand of paper dolls," said lead researcher professor Geoffrey Coates. "But instead of repeating dolls, the components alternate between limonene oxide and CO2 in the polymer."