What if I tell you that people have found a way to recycle plastic?
And it’s not just anybody; it’s a team of researchers from Singapore.
Now, we’re not talking about how they’ll wash your plastic bottles and turn it into another plastic bottle. It’s not NewPlastic.
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Instead, they’re taking plastic waste and turning them into valuable material.
For cheap.
First Time Aerogel Is Made From Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)
The team of researcher from National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology has found a way to create a highly insulating and absorbent material called aerogel.
The most commercially available aerogel, the silica aerogel, sells for $40 per A4-sized piece.
But the team is able to manufacture a piece of aerogel sheet from a plastic water bottle at just $0.50.
At a fraction of the time.
Typically, the manufacturing process for a commercial aerogel is about seven days. But the Singaporean team said they can manufacture a sheet in seven to eight hours.
And Their End Product Is Like Transformers
Their aerogel sheets can be used for different functions depending on the treatment during the manufacturing process.
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When they coat their aerogel sheet with certain water-repellent chemicals, it can absorb up to seven times more oil than current sorbents available commercially.
Which makes cleaning up oil spills easier and faster.
If coated with flame retardants, it can withstand temperatures up to 620 degrees Celsius.
“We want everyone to have a (fire-resistant) jacket. For example, we all live in high-rise buildings, and the first thing is safety. And if there’s a fire … everyone can be safe.”
Plus, it makes a pretty good heat and sound insulator.
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Guess studio’s soundproofing’s gonna be cheaper from now on?
The “Waste” Team
This isn’t the first time they’ve done something like this.
Previously, they’ve created cellulose aerogel, made from paper waste.
Then they created a stronger version of their aerogel from cotton fabric.
And now, they have a plastic version.
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The next material they’re looking at is to work with rubber waste, food waste, and even metal and electricity.
When Will It Be Commercially Available?
When asked about whether the product will be commercially available, the team said that the commercial product will probably hit the market in three to five years.
They’ve recently filed for a global patent and is in the process of starting up a company to manage their cotton and paper aerogel.
So far, more than twenty companies have indicated their interest in partnering up with them.
Nice.
We’re going to be on the world map again~
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