Recipe for “perfect plastic”

Researchers find recipe for "perfect plastic” Researchers have solved a long-standing problem that could revolutionise the way new plastics are developed. The breakthrough, involving researchers at Durham University and the University of Leeds, will allow experts to create the 'perfect plastic' with specific uses and properties by using a high-tech 'recipe book'. It will also increase our ability to recycle plastics. The paper's authors form part of the Microscale Polymer Processing project, a collaboration between academics and industry experts which has spent 10 years exploring how to better build giant 'macromolecules'. These long tangled molecules are the basic components of plastics and dictate their properties during the melting, flowing and forming processes in plastics production. Low-density polyethylenes (LDPEs) are used in trays and containers, lightweight car parts, recyclable packaging and electrical goods. Up until now, industry developed a plastic then found a use for it, or tried hundreds of different "recipes" to see which worked.