Événement

More Than Just One Word on Plastics

Date: September 27, 2019
Time: 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Location: Sesnon House, Cabrillo College, 6500 Soquel Dr, Aptos, CA 95003.
Tickets: Regular $30, Students $15
Abstract
Plastics: we love them and hate them. A brief introduction and history of plastics will presented, followed by consideration of the health, environmental and societal issues related to current plastic use. A peak at some of the exciting developments in emerging bio-sourced and biodegradable plastics will be discussed. This will be followed by a presentation of the work on PVC being pursued in the Braslau lab.

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is inherently a brittle, rigid material. In order to make PVC products commercially viable, PVC is traditionally mixed with small molecule plasticizers. With time, these plasticizers leach out of the PVC matrix, leaving the PVC increasingly brittle, and contaminating the environment. The most common plasticizers are phthalate esters. Phthalates are implicated as endocrine disruptors as well as leading to other adverse health effects. To replace small molecule plasticizers, covalently-bonded internal plasticizers are being developed. The design of these internal plasticizers is explored in terms of branching and chemical composition, with the aim of maximizing plasticization while minimizing synthetic manipulations, so that internally plasticized PVC can be scaled to industrial levels.