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Researchers at Northwestern University have demonstrated that compressing polymers in water can power chemical reactions. However, the discovery may have some adverse implications for medical devices.
Rachel Ehrenberg reports for Science News:
In the quest to wring energy from every source imaginable, scientists are putting the squeeze on a common plastic ingredient. Applying force to polymers in water generates enough energy to drive chemical reactions…. The technique won’t replace large-scale energy operations, but it offers a way to harness the wisps of unused energy generated by everyday endeavors, like walking or compacting plastic bags at a recycling center.
Team leader Bartosz Grzybowski told Barry Copping for plastics news that “you can get a surprisingly large amount of chemical energy from a polymer under compression.” According to Science News, that energy efficiency is 30%, which is comparable to some power plants that use coal.Applying mechanical force to a polymer breaks bonds, and can generate free radicals. The researchers found that when a polymer is squeezed in water, the free radicals react with the water and make enough hydrogen peroxide to start other reactions.
The team tested various polymers, including the PVC and the silicon-based polymer PDMS. Ehrenberg described two demonstrations:
When the scientists added gold and silver metal salts to a PDMS tube filled with water, squeezing the tube powered reactions that generated gold and silver nanoparticles. The researchers also injected the sole of a Nike LeBron sneaker with water and a compound that fluoresces when it is cleaved. Half an hour of walking applied force to the polymers in the sneaker’s sole, and the resulting free radicals made enough hydrogen peroxide to cleave the fluorescing compound and make the sole glow.
The researchers noted to Plastics News that they want to use the hydrogen peroxide produced from squeezing polymers to kill bacteria in drinking water in developing countries.
But the same free radicals that create power could also cause some problems for medical devices such as catheters and some breast implants that are made with silicon-based polymers, according to the media outlets. The team discovered that normal wear in the body might generate free radicals that could cause inflammation, immune responses, or other problems, and suggest that the safety of some polymer-based medical implants should probably be examined more closely.
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