If you gave the average American a plastic toothbrush and asked them to describe where its materials came from and how it was made, they would most likely be at a loss for an answer. Though we’ve come ...

A person holds a giant carton made of paper pulp filled with brown eggs. Egg cartons made from recycled paper pulp are an example of natural polymers used in commercial food packaging. Credit: ...

Scientists developing new biomaterials often try to mimic the body's natural proteins, but a chemist shows that simpler polymers -- based on a handful of plastic building blocks -- also work well.

The sources of natural polymers can be plant-based, animal-based, and marine-derived. For instance, plant-based polymers like cellulose are widely used in paper and textile industries for their ...

It can be difficult to carry materials innovation from discovery through commercialization, as it requires people at every level of the supply chain to take risks ...

A new study led by Colorado State University Distinguished Professor Eugene Chen outlines a path to creating advanced, recyclable plastics. Published in Nature, the study describes a breakthrough ...

Owens Corning Inc. OC has signed a deal to acquire a manufacturer of spray polyurethane foam insulation, Natural Polymers, LLC, thereby expanding its core insulation product offerings. However, the ...

Biodegradable polymers are a type of polymer that exists both naturally and can be synthesized in laboratories. This special class of polymer is broken down naturally by microbial processes to produce ...

Most life on Earth is based on polymers of 20 amino acids that have evolved into hundreds of thousands of different, highly specialized proteins. They catalyze reactions, form backbone and muscle and ...