Eugene Chen, a professor in the Department of Chemistry at CSU, is leading a study that could bring us naturally biodegradable plastics.

Petroleum-based plastics have become quite the issue over the course of many years. They're invading our landfills and oceans, not to mention showing up in the air and in our food.

The study's findings were published in the journal Scienceand while they're not a solution yet, they could go a long way towards finding answers and a better plastic process in the future. If you are smart enough to understand some of what they are working on for a better future, here is the scientific explanation:

"The CSU polymer chemists report that their new polymerization methodology is enabled by catalysts that directly polymerize a bio-sourced monomer called 8DL that exists in a form called stereo-isomers. The catalyzed polymerization produces orderly, crystalline, so-called “stereosequenced” PHAs. In the lab, the researchers showed their materials’ ductility and toughness, and their ability to tune the structure and function of their materials."

That's above my pay grade, or, should I say above the grade I finished school at, but it's still exciting stuff coming out of CSU.

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