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Planstic: Biodegradable Plastic with High-Entropy Fibers Made from Waste Plastic and Plant Leaves
Summary
Researchers created "Planstic," a biodegradable material made from fallen plant leaves combined with waste plastic, using 3D printing to control its structure. The material degrades completely within 8 weeks in soil, leaving behind very few microplastic particles, making it a promising eco-friendly alternative to conventional plastics.
This work introduced a biodegradable plastic material named “Planstic,” which was fabricated by combining fallen plant leaves in nature and plastic waste. Microstructure design and high-precision 3D printing were used to control the morphology perfectly. High-entropy fibers’ direction distribution was used for elasticity improvement. Fibers in Planstic can attract enzymes from nature during its degradation process, thus accelerating the degradation rate of plastic. Planstic can be degraded entirely after 8 weeks in the soil with few microplastic particles remaining. Planstic is an effective solution to plastic pollution in the future.
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