Sustainable mono-material product design with biodegradable and recyclable polymers Eugene Chen Colorado State University, USA The traditional product design of plastic materials that employs multiple, often non-biodegradable or non- recyclable materials of different chemical compositions significantly complicates both mechanical and chemical recycling processes. Here we describe the sustainable mono-material product design that utilizes biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) or redesigned chemically recyclable PHA materials. This approach employs polymer stereomicrostructure engineering to transform PHAs to behave like one type of polymer to another, for example, from strong and rigid thermoplastics to flexible plastics, to stretchable elastomers, to tough thermoplastic elastomers, or to even adhesives, without changing their chemical composition. References
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