ARMONK, N.Y., June 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Every year,
the world generates more than 2.7 million tons of a plastic[1],
known as polycarbonates, to create common household items, such as
CDs, baby bottles, eyeglass lenses and smartphones. Over time,
polycarbonates decompose and leach BPA, a chemical that, in 2008,
caused retailers to pull plastic baby bottles from store shelves
due to concerns about the potential effects of BPA on the
brain.
Today, IBM Research (NYSE: IBM) announced that researchers from
the Almaden lab in San Jose,
Calif. have discovered a new, one-step chemical process that
converts polycarbonates into plastics safe for water purification,
fiber optics and medical equipment.
In the study, IBM Researchers added a fluoride reactant, a base
(similar to baking powder) and heat to old CDs to produce a new
plastic with temperature and chemical resistance superior to the
original substance. When the powder is reconstructed into new
forms, its strength prevents the decomposition process that causes
BPA leaching.
"Polycarbonates are common plastics in our society – especially
in consumer electronics in the form of LED screens, smartphones and
Blu-rays, as well as everyday eyeglass lenses, kitchen utensils and
household storage gear," said Gavin O.
Jones, Ph.D., research staff member, IBM Research – Almaden
(San Jose, Calif.). "We now have a
new way of recycling to improve how this prominent substance
impacts the world's health and environment."
"While preventing these plastics from entering landfills, we
simultaneously recycle the substance into a new type of plastic --
safe and strong enough for purifying our water and producing
medical equipment," said Jeanette
Garcia, Ph. D., research staff member, IBM Research –
Almaden (San Jose, Calif.). "It's
an environmental win on many fronts."
In this study, researchers used a combination of predictive
modeling and experimental lab work to make the discovery. The
learning from these research efforts is also used to advance
cognitive systems to help accelerate the materials discovery
process. The scale, pace and complexity of materials science is a
challenge for scientists working to discover new materials. As part
of the IBM Research Frontiers Institute, scientists are combining
expertise in informatics and polymers, and other materials, to
prototype systems to extract, organize, analyze, and predict
insights from materials datasets. By leveraging existing knowledge
from the world's scientific databases and accelerating computations
used in these types of experiments, these cognitive tools could
help identify patterns and to bring new discoveries to realization
faster.
IBM Watson Discovery Advisor is an example of a cognitive system
available to assist pharmacological researchers in finding new
potential drug molecules and IBM's science research team continues
to broaden the domain expertise into new material areas.
The full research paper, One-step Conversion of
Polycarbonates into Value-added Polyaryl ether sulfones, was
published in the peer-reviewed journal, Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences of the United States
of America.
Resources
Photos:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ibm_research_zurich/albums/72157669601870272
Research Paper:
http://www.pnas.org/lookup/doi/10.1073/pnas.1600924113
Gavin O. Jones Bio:
http://researcher.ibm.com/researcher/view.php?person=us-gojones
Jeanette Garcia Bio:
http://researcher.ibm.com/researcher/view.php?person=us-jmgarcia
Jeanette Garcia TED Talk:
https://www.ted.com/watch/ted-institute/ted-ibm/jeannette-garcia-a-super-strong-plastic-that-reverts-to-dust
About IBM Research
For more than seven decades, IBM Research has defined the future
of information technology with more than 3,000 researchers in 12
labs located across six continents. Scientists from IBM Research
have produced six Nobel Laureates, 10 U.S. National Medals of
Technology, five U.S. National Medals of Science, six Turing
Awards, 19 inductees in the National Academy of Sciences and 20
inductees into the U.S. National Inventors Hall of Fame. For more
information about IBM Research, visit www.ibm.com/research.
Media Contact
Caroline Yu Vespi
External Relations
IBM Research – Almaden
+1 925 212 9184
cvespi@us.ibm.com
[1] American Chemical Society
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SOURCE IBM Research