https://phys.org/chemistry-news/polymers/ en-us The latest science news on polymers Coatings are everywhere. A thin protective layer, often barely visible. They keep out moisture, sunlight and rust, helping products last longer. Think of laminate on kitchen cabinets, automotive body coatings or the outer layer of a soda can or chip bag. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-electron-tougher-faster-coatings-packaging.html Polymers Mon, 15 Jun 2026 21:00:03 EDT news700760702 Most people have seen nylon listed as a material on their clothing tags, but nylon is used in an array of other products, too, including automotive parts, wire insulation and medical supplies. Unfortunately, one of the building blocks of nylon, adipic acid, is produced from petroleum-derived benzene through energy-intensive processes and has a rather high carbon footprint. However, there may be a better way to produce this ubiquitous polymer. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-years-overlooked-material-poised-reshape.html Biochemistry Sun, 14 Jun 2026 12:40:01 EDT news700402907 Scientists have long known that sunlight helps break down plastic. So, why do plastic products linger for decades and even centuries in rivers, lakes, and oceans—even when bathed in direct sunlight? Northwestern University engineers have uncovered an unexpected answer. The surprising culprit is the water itself. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-plastic-lingers-chemistry-nature-cleanup.html Polymers Wed, 10 Jun 2026 05:00:06 EDT news700217521 Researchers at IMDEA Materials Institute and the Institute of Polymer Science and Technology (ICTP-CSIC) have developed an innovative biodegradable multilayer film capable of protecting and controlling the release of anthocyanins inside the body. Published in the International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, this innovation opens the door to more effective functional foods and supplements for intestinal health. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-pectin-chitosan-bioactive-compounds-foods.html Biochemistry Tue, 09 Jun 2026 16:00:05 EDT news700231917 Could wound healing dressings adhere better, and could drug delivery patches become more sophisticated? A KAIST research team has developed a technology that leverages natural ingredients derived from plants to increase the strength of a seaweed-based hydrogel (a gel material that contains a large amount of water while maintaining its shape) by more than fivefold, while also controlling its adhesiveness and degradation rate. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-tea-compound-boosts-seaweed-hydrogel.html Polymers Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:00:03 EDT news700229281 Colors brighten our lives and help define countless items we use daily—from the vibrant clothes we wear to decorative paper and packaging materials. What adds different colors to these things? Dyes, which bind themselves to the structure of the material they are coloring. For example, methylene blue (MB) is a dye used to color paper, leather products, silk and wool, and is also employed as a diagnostic agent and in the rubber and cosmetic industries. But what happens after these dyes have served their purpose? https://phys.org/news/2026-06-super-sponge-toxic-dyes-industrial.html Polymers Mon, 08 Jun 2026 19:40:02 EDT news700145283 Scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a new method to recycle mixed plastic packaging without using harmful chemical solvents—an approach that could make one of the world's most difficult waste streams significantly easier to handle. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-cleaner-recycling-method-reusable-plastics.html Polymers Wed, 03 Jun 2026 15:20:07 EDT news699711488 With help from a novel cross-linking molecule, MIT chemists have shown they can substantially improve the ballistic impact resistance of common polymers, including polystyrene and a type of rubber used to make shoe soles. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-common-plastics-ballistic-impacts-linking.html Polymers Wed, 03 Jun 2026 11:00:12 EDT news699694921 Researchers from the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences (FCMS) at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP) in Sorocaba, in the interior of the state of São Paulo, Brazil, have developed a biomaterial containing jackfruit latex, pomegranate peel extract, and simvastatin (a statin-based medication) that shows promising efficacy in treating periodontitis. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-biomaterial-jackfruit-latex-treatment-periodontitis.html Biochemistry Tue, 02 Jun 2026 19:40:03 EDT news699632101 Nylon is a representative plastic material used throughout our daily lives, from clothing to automobiles. However, most of its raw materials have been produced through petrochemical processes, resulting in large carbon emissions. KAIST researchers have developed a technology that can produce key nylon precursors in an eco-friendly way using microbes. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-microbes-biodiesel-byproduct-nylon-blocks.html Biochemistry Mon, 01 Jun 2026 16:40:06 EDT news699545161 From household plastic packaging to the flexible frameworks that support wearable electronics, polymer materials form the invisible backbone of modern life. At a microscopic level, polymers consist of long, ribbon-like molecular chains that are entangled into a disorganized mass resembling a bowl of cooked noodles. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-precise-polymer-uncover-hidden-slack.html Polymers Mon, 01 Jun 2026 12:20:02 EDT news699533461 Plastic waste poses an urgent problem for the planet's ecosystems, especially in waterways. Millions of tons of plastic waste enter Earth's oceans every year, and plastic has been found in every part of the ocean, including at the bottom of the deepest ocean trenches. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-bio-stickers-plastic-breakdown-marine.html Biochemistry Fri, 29 May 2026 10:00:07 EDT news699265681 For more than half a century, materials scientists have struggled with how to simulate the complexity of polymer materials. An individual chain can comprise tens of thousands of atoms, a melt or composite contains billions, and the properties engineers actually care about, such as how an adhesive grips a surface, how a self-assembling block copolymer locks into a nanostructure, or how a biopolymer film stretches without tearing, emerge only over length and time scales that forcible atomistic simulation cannot reach. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-thermodynamic-laws-ai-polymer.html Polymers Tue, 26 May 2026 19:20:07 EDT news699029450 The performance and safety profile of lithium batteries has improved immensely over the years, but new technologies are constantly demanding even better performance and increased safety demands due to higher energy densities. Now, a study, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, reports on a new method that improves the way plasticizers work with poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) in the electrolytes of lithium batteries, further improving performance and safety. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-polymer-strategy-boosts-lithium-battery.html Polymers Tue, 26 May 2026 14:20:07 EDT news699018076 When it comes to technology and innovation, we have a lot to thank Mother Nature for. Learning from the natural world has led to a range of useful products, including Velcro, self-cleaning paint, and ultra-strong body armor. And now, a study published in the journal Nature Communications reports that scientists have developed a way to turn a corn protein into a plastic-like material using a method inspired by spider silk. The breakthrough could one day lead to biodegradable food packaging wraps to help reduce environmental waste. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-spider-silk-corn-protein-tougher.html Biochemistry Tue, 26 May 2026 12:40:02 EDT news699014410 Researchers at Kyoto University and Tohoku University have developed a new porous polymer gel that selectively recognizes specific molecules (referred to as "guests" in the study) through coordination chemistry and converts these invisible molecular-scale interactions into strikingly visible, macroscale deformation. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-porous-gel-hardens-molecules.html Polymers Fri, 22 May 2026 17:00:01 EDT news698673541 An interdisciplinary student research team at the University of Waterloo has achieved an advance in materials science with the creation of a tissue-like hydrogel for artificial muscles to make soft robots move. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-student-talent-simpler-method-artificial.html Polymers Fri, 22 May 2026 15:20:03 EDT news698670241 What happens when a scientific problem seems too complex to solve precisely, yet understanding it could reshape how researchers design new materials and medicines? For decades, much of the polymer science community has relied on a "good enough" approach to a stubborn problem: binding a polymer to a protein in a precise way that reliably controls how the protein behaves. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-imperfect-polymer-sequences-protein-function.html Biochemistry Tue, 19 May 2026 14:40:04 EDT news698415361 Silk threads can be fused into transparent, plastic-like materials that twist terahertz frequencies of light, according to research led by Imperial College London, University of Michigan Engineering and Tufts University. The findings could enable components of 6G networks to be made from upcycled silk. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-silk-strong-plastic-materials-6g.html Polymers Thu, 14 May 2026 15:07:22 EDT news697990021 Oil and natural gas are vital constituents of our energy ecosystem that need to be transported across long distances. Although steel pipelines are the infrastructure used for this purpose, thereby serving as the lifeline for crucial energy distribution, they introduce the added challenge of corrosion. Steels typically rust when exposed to aggressive environments and are coated with various types of polymer coatings to delay, if not completely inhibit the onset of corrosion. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-technique-polymer-degradation-cathodic-overprotection.html Polymers Tue, 12 May 2026 17:40:03 EDT news697800625 Living organisms sustain themselves through intricate metabolic processes that continuously convert energy and materials into useful functions. Inspired by these biological systems, researchers are now engineering synthetic materials that can replicate such dynamic behaviors. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-metabolism-hydrogels-replicate-heartbeat-motion.html Polymers Tue, 12 May 2026 12:20:05 EDT news697799252 Understanding how protons move at the interface between polymers and electrode materials is essential for improving fuel cells and related energy devices. However, conventional impedance measurements under inert conditions have long masked these interfacial contributions, showing only a single, merged signal. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-hidden-proton-pathways-emerge-ultrathin.html Polymers Mon, 11 May 2026 18:00:08 EDT news697735381 Entropy gets a bad rap. Typically associated with randomness and chaos, it can also correlate with freedom and diversity. Cornell researchers have found that, thanks to the latter qualities, entropy can help bind certain pairs of molecules faster and more robustly—an approach that could have broad applications in drug development and assembling nanoparticles to form new materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-looped-polymers-stronger-faster-molecular.html Polymers Mon, 11 May 2026 17:10:02 EDT news697737001 Battery acid from old cars, with a little help from a catalyst, can give plastic waste a new purpose, using it to drive the production of useful chemicals, powered by sunlight alone. A recent study by researchers at the University of Cambridge found a way to turn everyday plastics such as PET from water bottles, nylon, and polyurethane into useful chemical feedstocks. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-bottles-battery-acid-production-valuable.html Polymers Fri, 08 May 2026 12:40:01 EDT news697453249 Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) have developed a solid polymer coated with harmless viruses to detect the bacteria Salmonella enterica (S. enterica), an advance that could lead to new ways of finding contamination in the food supply. The work is published in the journal ACS Applied Bio Materials. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-harmless-viruses-salmonella-flexible-polymer.html Biochemistry Thu, 07 May 2026 18:20:01 EDT news697389961 A non-toxic coating developed by researchers at University of Toronto Engineering prevents proteins from sticking to surfaces—potentially offering a new tool in the fight against hospital-acquired infections. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-polymer-bristles-repel-proteins-germs.html Polymers Tue, 05 May 2026 19:30:01 EDT news697218661 Many plastic products are designed to be used only once, yet the material itself lasts for years. But a new strategy is addressing this problem by creating products that self-destruct on command, known as living plastics. These materials incorporate activatable, plastic-degrading microbes alongside the polymers. One team reporting in ACS Applied Polymer Materials used two bacterial strains that worked together and completely broke down the material within just six days, without making microplastics. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-plastic-destructs.html Polymers Sun, 03 May 2026 08:00:06 EDT news696766472 As the global pollution crisis caused by manufacturing and disposing of single-use plastics continues to grow, researchers have developed a non-toxic plastic alternative derived from the hemp plant—a non-psychoactive type of cannabis. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-hemp-based-thermoplastic-greener-alternative.html Polymers Thu, 30 Apr 2026 11:00:01 EDT news696680101 Natural rubber, tapped from trees as latex, is the world's most widely used bio-elastomer. Comprising long molecular chains that make it pliable and stretchy yet highly resistant to cracking and strain, natural rubber is foundational to countless products, including the heavy-duty tires in trucks, buses, and airplanes. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-natural-rubber-boosts-toughness-tenfold.html Polymers Tue, 28 Apr 2026 17:20:03 EDT news696613201 Science has long taken inspiration from the natural world, and few natural designs are as iconic as the helical shape that makes life possible. The best-known example of such a molecule is DNA, a double helix that carries the genetic instructions for all living organisms. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-evolving-polymer-recreates-nature-signature.html Biochemistry Mon, 27 Apr 2026 14:40:04 EDT news696508441