Scientists have pressure moulded 'baroplastics' at room temperature

Scientists have pressure moulded 'baroplastics' at room temperature

US scientists have discovered a range of polymers that can be moulded at room temperature and recycled without degrading. A team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology showed that melt-like behaviour could be induced by applying pressure to several types of block copolymer and two core-shell nanoparticle systems.

The low-temperature formability of these ‘baroplastics’ promised “lower energy consumption in manufacture and processing, reduced use of additives, faster production and improved recyclability”, the researchers reported in today’s edition of Nature. They successfully moulded a PS-b-PBA polymer at room temperature and a pressure of around 35Mpa, while a PS-b-PEHA polymer was reprocessed ten times under similar conditions without degrading.

The team, led by Dr Anne Mayes, said processing the polymers may be possible using current machinery. The researchers acknowledged a commercial drawback: block copolymers are more expensive and complex to produce compared to commodity plastics, while the number of polymers that can be readily incorporated into block copolymers is limited.