Zwitterions deployed to improve plastic batteries.
https://cleantechnica.com/2026/04/13/zwitterions-are-the-key-to-new-solid-state-batteries/
solidstate #batteries #battery #electrolyte #energy #energystorage #research #innovation #polymers #plastic #science #energytransition #evs #electricvehicles
Zwitterions deployed to improve plastic batteries.
https://cleantechnica.com/2026/04/13/zwitterions-are-the-key-to-new-solid-state-batteries/
solidstate #batteries #battery #electrolyte #energy #energystorage #research #innovation #polymers #plastic #science #energytransition #evs #electricvehicles
In the process of converting carbon dioxide into useful chemicals such as ethylene—a key precursor for plastics—a major challenge has been the flooding of electrodes, where electrolyte penetrates the electrode structure and reduces performance. KAIST researchers have developed a new electrode design that blocks water while maintaining efficient electrical conduction and catalytic reactions, thereby improving both efficiency and stability.
My friends did a thing! Microplastics are very challenging to measure and some existing protocols make it worse. To be clear, the authors are concerned about microplastics, and also concerned that we have analytical methods that will give us real information. Good and difficult work. #analysis #chemistry #polymers #plastics #microplastics
https://futurism.com/science-energy/microplastics-samples-gloves
Researchers found that plastic gloves can transfer microplastic particles onto environmental samples, potentially skewing results.
5-Mar-2026
#Polymers that crawl like worms: How #materials can develop direction without being told where to go
New findings can help to better understand #DNA dynamics in living #cells
Researchers at the University of Vienna have uncovered a surprising phenomenon: polymer chains with segments that simply fluctuate at different intensities can spontaneously develop directional, persistent motion when densely packed – even though nothing in the system points them in any particular direction. This "entropic tug of war," driven by fundamental physical constraints, could help explain how DNA organizes and moves inside living cells, and may lead to new materials. The study was currently published in Physical Review X.
that's amazing work and very life-like. I know what you mean about the materials and it's a pity, because I feel like that's unnecessary. There's a tremendous body of work on substitutes for polymers that are currently made from petrochemical feedstocks, but it all remains very small-scale and mostly academic because the petrochemical industry does NOT want to interrupt the pipeline they've constructed: straight out of the Earth and flowing into every conceivable consumer product.
we would love to be able to make our own plastics at the Pnictogen Wing homestead, from biomass. so that prompts the question: what living creature would be (a) easy to grow or culture in the relatively limited space available in a single-family home with a yard, and (b) the most fruitful as a feedstock for production of a useful polymer?
I already know a little. furfural (furan-2-carboxaldehyde) and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural are two attractive candidates for a biomass-derived chemical that could be used to make plastics. Furfural can be obtained from the acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of pentosans, biopolymers of five-carbon sugars found in such substances as corncobs and oat hulls. 5-hydroxymethylfurfural can be obtained in a like method from the breakdown of cellulose, starch, etc.
🌿 A tree produces a quiet milky fluid that becomes grip, cushion, and seal in our daily world. What hidden architecture allows rubber to stretch, strain, and still return to form?
✍️ Explore the full journey from living latex to resilient network: https://TPC8.short.gy/HufLJJ1O
🌍 A single droplet begins a long story of transformation.
Tina M Casey
Tina M Casey
PostSapiens
matecurkovic
Getzler Lab at KenyonCollege
michael
Mx. Chara Aznable (they/them) of the Pnictogen Wing
Mx. Chara Aznable (they/them) of Pnictogen
The Perpetually Curious!