Are Plastics Too Strong?
The same chemistry that makes plastic tough, light and flexible also makes it nearly impossible to get rid of, because it’s hard to break those resilient chemical bonds.
Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (tracking.swap.fm) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.
Show Notes
To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords:
- Polymer: A substance whose molecular structure consists of large numbers of similar units covalently bonded together
- Covalent bond: A strong type of bond in which adjacent atoms share electrons.
- Backbone chain: A long series of covalently bonded atoms that create the continuous chain of the molecule.
- Bioplastic: A type of plastic, usually biodegradable, made from biological substances.
- Scission: The breakage of a backbone chain at the bond level.
- Microbial biodegradation: The use of microbes to break molecules into smaller and less harmful forms.
MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC
If you like what we do, you can help us!
- Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth
- Buy our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth
- Buy our book: https://minuteearth.com/books
- Sign up to our newsletter: http://news.minuteearth.com
- Share with your friends and family
- Leave us a comment (we read them!)
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices