Researchers have outlined a pathway to making plastics from small amounts of carbon dioxide, a breakthrough highlighted by Osaka University researchers. The focus centers on a biodegradable yet water resistant polymer known as poly-3-hydroxybutyrate, commonly used in packaging materials. The building block for this polymer is 3-hydroxybutyrate, which is formed into plastic through polymerization. Earlier work from Osaka University showed that 3-hydroxybutyrate can be produced from carbon dioxide and acetone with high efficiency, though the process demanded high concentrations of carbon dioxide.
In a new development, Yutaka Amao and his team demonstrated the same conversion using low levels of carbon dioxide and acetone sourced from recycled sign ink. Acetone is an inexpensive and relatively benign chemical used across many chemical reactions. The conversion is driven by light, akin to natural sunlight, and after a full day of exposure the team reported that more than six tenths of the acetone had been transformed into 3-hydroxybutyrate.
The experiments used a carbon dioxide concentration comparable to exhaust gases emitted by thermal power plants. This finding points toward the possibility of creating plastic from waste streams, a route that could reduce both production costs and environmental pollution. According to Osaka University, this approach could enable economical and cleaner manufacturing of biodegradable plastics by repurposing industrial emissions for material production, moving toward a circular economy in which waste gases become valuable feedstocks.