Polymers from waste biological materials

The manufacture of synthetic polymers consumes large quantities of petroleum for raw material, and synthetic and natural polymers make up a large fraction of solid waste. For these reasons, it is desirable to Ixrth make polymers from renewable biological sources and to synthesize and use polymers that will biodegrade after disposal. Nature has provided a large variety of polymer factories, producing useful... 

Waste-treatment processes commonly result in the production of solid wastes that must be disposed of safely. Enzymatic treatment is no exception. For example, although enzymatic treatment may not produce as large a quantity of solid products as does biological treatment, some solid residues may be formed, e.g., the polymer precipitates formed during the treatment of phenols with peroxidases, spent adsorbents such as talc, chitin, or activated carbon that are used to eliminate the soluble products of enzymatic reactions, or residues of plant materials such as raw soybean hulls when they are used in place of purified enzymes during treatment. Perhaps, the polymers and adsorbents could be incinerated to recover some energy if the emission of dangerous combustion by-products can be controlled or prevented. The residues of plant materials could potentially be composted and used as soil conditioners, provided that pollutants do not leach from them at substantial rates. To date, none of these disposal problems have been addressed adequately. 

In many applications, ionizing radiation is used to improve specific properties of polymer materials, to steriUze medical devices, preserve food and to treat waste materials. Electrons and X-rays from particle accelerators or the gamma radiation from cobalt-60 are commonly used. In both cases, the transfer of the radiation energy to absorbing materials is achieved by means of secondary electrons, and the physical and biological effects observed for both t)rpes of radiation sources are very similar. 

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