Self-healing plastic becomes biodegradable / Greater environmental compatibility thanks to new basic building block that can be produced with the help of microorganisms and is completely biodegradable
Konstanz chemists develop mineral plastics with numerous positive properties from sustainable basic building blocks and, together with biologists, demonstrate the material's excellent microbiologi ...
Before hardening, you can shape the plastic in any way you want – like chewing gum. By adding water, it can also be converted back to its "chewing gum" form at any time, reshaped and thus recycled as often as desired.
It sounds like this has the same problem as every other biodegradable polymer - water solubility. If it softens in the presence of water then it can't be used outdoors, it can't be used to contain food, it can't be used for medical applications, and it can't be handled by anyone with even slightly sweaty hands. What is the use case for such a material?