https://phys.org/chemistry-news/polymers/ en-us The latest science news on polymers Look closely at Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa, one of Japan's most iconic masterpieces. The brilliant white of the waves, snow on Mount Fuji and clouds above contain no white pigment. Instead, their whiteness comes from the way light scatters off the unprinted fibers of the washi paper itself. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-white-nature-sustainable-repellent-materials.html Polymers Wed, 09 Sep 2026 11:00:31 EDT news708168421 What if the key to making stronger, more sustainable plastics isn't changing their ingredients, but rearranging their molecules? Virginia Tech researchers have put that idea to the test, creating degradable polymers with a new molecular architecture that combines properties often difficult to achieve in one material: strength, toughness, flexibility and the ability to block oxygen. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-rearranged-polymer-chains-degradable-materials.html Polymers Tue, 08 Sep 2026 05:00:01 EDT news707994742 Glassy polymers are those whose chains become immobilized below their glass transition temperature. The immobilized chains make them hard and stiff but also brittle, causing them to fracture when stretched. One promising strategy for overcoming this trade-off is to incorporate ionic groups whose reversible electrostatic attractions form physical crosslinks that improve toughness while maintaining stiffness. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-soft-crosslinking-strategy-brittle-glassy.html Polymers Fri, 04 Sep 2026 13:00:24 EDT news707738941 In the realm of materials science, there is a plethora of datasets and tools at our disposal—the issue is how to effectively use these resources in harmony. Researchers at the Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR), Tohoku University, have identified major bottlenecks holding back artificial intelligence-driven polymer innovation and created a system that integrates multiple tools (such as polymer databases, predictive models, AI agents and automated laboratories). https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ai-driven-polymer-discovery-years.html Polymers Fri, 04 Sep 2026 09:40:03 EDT news707731501 Biodegradable plastics should be tough enough for use yet able to break down at an appropriate rate afterward. Researchers at the University of Osaka show that changing the size of rings threaded onto a biodegradable polymer can tune both its toughness and enzymatic degradation, offering a way to design material lifetimes. The study is published in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-built-size-tunes-biodegradable-plastic.html Polymers Thu, 03 Sep 2026 18:20:02 EDT news707664601 A good adhesive is unequivocally sticky. A great adhesive is sticky until you don't want it to be sticky anymore—a label on cardboard until it's time to recycle it. Medical tape on a cut until the wound heals. A GWAR poster on a bedroom wall until your parents kick you out. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-chemists-extra-sticky-adhesives-degrade.html Polymers Wed, 02 Sep 2026 10:20:01 EDT news707560441 Certain phosphorus compounds are highly effective at suppressing fires, which is why they are widely used in flame retardants. Phosphorus, however, is a finite resource. Estimates suggest it could be depleted within the next 50–300 years. That is why, as part of the ScaleAmP project, a research team is working to extract phosphorus from corn steep liquor, a byproduct of starch production. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-sustainable-flame-retardant-derived-corn.html Biochemistry Tue, 01 Sep 2026 17:20:04 EDT news707488023 Researchers from Skoltech together with colleagues from Xi'an Jiaotong University and the Blagonravov Institute of Mechanical Engineering of the Russian Academy of Sciences, have conducted a systematic study of the flexural properties of pultruded glass fiber composites based on three different thermoplastic matrices: polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), polyamide-6 (PA6) and polypropylene (PP). https://phys.org/news/2026-09-reveal-thermoplastic-composites-strength-elevated.html Polymers Tue, 01 Sep 2026 16:40:01 EDT news707484541 Electrically charged raindrops, a naturally occurring phenomenon, can break down surfaces treated with protective coatings, according to new research published in Nature. This previously overlooked corrosion mechanism highlights the need for a new method of preserving metal objects like cars, ships, buildings and cultural heritage sites. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-electrically-raindrops-corroding-metal-coatings.html Polymers Wed, 26 Aug 2026 18:40:04 EDT news706969322 Long polymer chains are everywhere: in synthetic materials, soft matter, biological systems such as chromosomes, and mathematical models of filaments and knots. When many such chains are densely packed, they form what physicists call a polymer melt. In this crowded environment, each chain is constrained by the others around it. These entanglements are central to the behavior of polymeric materials, but they also make the systems extremely difficult to simulate. As chain length increases, the time needed to obtain a new independent configuration grows very rapidly. For very large systems, conventional simulations can therefore become computationally prohibitive. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-monte-carlo-method-simulations-densely.html Polymers Fri, 21 Aug 2026 15:40:04 EDT news706536061 Researchers from the University of Osaka have developed a new class of chiral semiconducting polymers that can generate highly spin-polarized electrical currents. The team's unique molecular design allows the polymers to self-assemble into helical structures that efficiently filter electron spins, offering a promising platform for future spintronic devices and clean-energy technologies. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-kind-polymer-electron.html Polymers Thu, 20 Aug 2026 14:20:04 EDT news706446002 Changing the carbon source used during bacterial fermentation—essentially, what bacteria are fed—can significantly influence the properties of the sugar polymers they produce, known as bacterial exopolysaccharides (EPSs). https://phys.org/news/2026-08-bacterial-feedstock-flexible-biopolymers-stronger.html Biochemistry Wed, 19 Aug 2026 19:40:03 EDT news706372261 Light-driven membrane proteins are key components in biohybrid systems because they can convert light energy into ion gradients, enabling energy conversion or sensory applications. While their integration into natural lipid membranes is well studied, embedding them in artificial polymer membranes has proven challenging. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-driven-proteins-artificial-membranes-method.html Biochemistry Wed, 19 Aug 2026 14:40:04 EDT news706356661 Polymers used for light-based 3D printing are very stable because of their chemical structure, but they are typically hard to recycle. A research team led by Professor Dr. Eva Blasco, a researcher at the Institute for Molecular Systems Engineering and Advanced Materials (IMSEAM) at Heidelberg University, has designed a polymer material that can be disassembled into its individual components when needed. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-metastable-3d-ink-enables-loop.html Polymers Wed, 19 Aug 2026 13:00:08 EDT news706357321 University of Birmingham scientists have developed a new material that changes from a gel to a liquid-like state under ultraviolet light and can be rebuilt using heat or dismantled by acid. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-switchable-smart-gel-pave-gen.html Polymers Tue, 18 Aug 2026 16:50:04 EDT news706286522 In a study published in Macromolecules, researchers introduce a novel polymer that could simplify how materials are applied, removed and recycled by eliminating several complex processing steps used today. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-plastic-gas-reforms-cooled.html Polymers Tue, 18 Aug 2026 13:40:06 EDT news706270321 In Nature Communications a research team led by Professor Tae-Hyun Bae of the KAIST Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering introduced hydrogen-selective transport pathways at the angstrom scale inside polymer membranes and clarified their separation performance through the concept of "network completeness." https://phys.org/news/2026-08-polymer-membrane-high-purity-hydrogen.html Polymers Wed, 12 Aug 2026 17:20:06 EDT news705771122 Whether it's neurons responding to electrical signals or plants stretching toward light, nature is filled with examples of biological materials that respond to their environment. Now, researchers want to develop new responsive materials for a wide range of applications, such as sensing or low-energy technologies. However, achieving a balance of useful properties at the molecular level is challenging. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-molecular-possibilities-future-electronics-storage.html Polymers Wed, 12 Aug 2026 13:00:01 EDT news705755360 Most glues need a dry surface to stick properly. Bonding materials underwater is challenging because water forms a thin film on any surface, so instead of an adhesive touching a material directly, it touches a layer of water, which weakens the bond. But scientists from China have now created a superglue that repels water and forms a strong, recyclable bond within seconds, as they report in a paper published in Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-recyclable-bonds-underwater-seconds-years.html Polymers Wed, 12 Aug 2026 09:00:01 EDT news705663880 Researchers have developed a polymer composite that combines vibration damping with reliable strain sensing. The material uses a thermoplastic polyurethane matrix containing UPy (2-ureido-4[1H]-pyrimidinone) units, which form reversible quadruple hydrogen bonds. These molecular links can break and reform. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-composite-retains-response-strain.html Polymers Mon, 10 Aug 2026 15:00:05 EDT news705586351 Biofilms—bacterial communities encased in a sticky, polymer-rich matrix—can be difficult to treat because that matrix slows antibiotics and drug-carrying particles. With help from salt, though, Yale researchers have found a way to steer these particles into some biofilms and even deform the biofilm itself in certain cases. The study is published in Soft Matter. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-salt-drug-particles-deeper-difficult.html Biochemistry Mon, 10 Aug 2026 11:40:05 EDT news705580741 Virginia Tech chemist and chemical engineer Guoliang "Greg" Liu and his lab have developed a process that converts the plastic polyvinyl chloride (PVC) into polyalphaolefin, a key component in lubricants such as engine oil. Published Aug. 5 in the journal Nature, the research could help address two environmental challenges: recycling one of the world's most difficult plastics and producing a valuable industrial material. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-world-difficult-plastics-premium-lubricant.html Polymers Wed, 05 Aug 2026 11:00:07 EDT news705067441 Wastewater treatment is a critical issue for global environmental protection and public health. Researchers from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have recently achieved a major breakthrough with the discovery of a novel oxidant-free electrocatalytic mechanism, opening a new direction for water purification technologies. The findings are set to significantly improve pollutant identification efficiency and potentially double the economic feasibility compared with existing methods. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-electrocatalytic-method-purify-wastewater-pollutants.html Polymers Tue, 04 Aug 2026 17:20:05 EDT news705074521 3D bioprinting allows scientists to build custom tissue structures for medicine, but printing soft tissues like the human brain remains a major challenge. The strong pushing forces required to squeeze biological materials through tiny printer nozzles often crush and damage sensitive cells, leading to low survival rates and weak printed structures. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-smart-bioink-shields-delicate-neural.html Biochemistry Mon, 03 Aug 2026 18:00:01 EDT news704991980 A study from the University of Manchester into the effects of polymer cross-contamination on the outcome of mechanically recycling plastics has found that the presence of contaminants radically alters degradation mechanisms. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-mechanical-recycling-contamination-circular-plastics.html Polymers Mon, 03 Aug 2026 15:40:03 EDT news704986203 The pulp and paper industry, which manufactures everything from tissue paper to cardboard, also generates a significant yet often overlooked byproduct—a complex polymer called lignin. Around 100 million tons of lignin are produced each year. Despite being the largest natural source of aromatic carbon on the planet, most of it is burned for energy. This is due to its complex structure, which is notoriously difficult to process. Researchers are exploring ways to leverage industrial lignin by developing methods to convert it into useful bio-based chemicals. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-industry-toughest-lignin-byproducts-feedstock.html Biochemistry Wed, 29 Jul 2026 18:40:03 EDT news704553481 Researchers at Colorado State University have developed a process to transform naturally occurring, highly stable carbon dioxide into recyclable, high-performance materials that could replace today's plastics in many situations. Their catalytic process, described in the journal Nature, is another step toward a circular economy that reduces plastic waste and supports environmental sustainability. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-captured-carbon-dioxide-yield-strong.html Polymers Wed, 29 Jul 2026 11:00:02 EDT news704451400 A naturally abundant plant material best known for giving trees and crops their strength may one day help repair broken bones, according to a new study led by postdoctoral researcher Dr. Srinath Palakurthy and Professor Rivka Elbaum of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-derived-lignin-bone-minerals.html Biochemistry Tue, 28 Jul 2026 14:40:01 EDT news704463362 Plastic recycling could become far more effective thanks to a new technique that restores the strength of damaged engineering plastics by repairing them at the molecular level. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-scientists-plastics-molecular-boosting-recycling.html Polymers Tue, 28 Jul 2026 07:20:02 EDT news704440910 A new study suggests that simple molecules on early Earth may have worked together to create more stable, cell-like structures, offering fresh clues about one of science's biggest questions: how life began. Led by Dr. Moran Frenkel-Pinter of Hebrew University and her postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Rotem Edri, the research shows that two types of simple molecules, fatty acids and hydroxy acids, can combine to create structures that are stronger and more stable than either molecule can form alone. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-polymers-primitive-membranes-molecular-cooperation.html Biochemistry Mon, 27 Jul 2026 19:40:01 EDT news704386021