Perverse phytochemical use

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

I seems that technology has been devised to take

the best from plants and make plastic from it. The

limonene is the healthiest part of an orange, I believe.

See also:

http://tinyurl.com/5uk59

See the below CNN report

Oranges a building block for 'greener' plastic

A promising plastic without petroleum

By Marsha Walton

CNN

ATLANTA, Georgia -- Cornell University chemists are looking for ways

to take the petroleum out of plastics. And nature has provided one

green alternative, in the form of oranges.

To create their new plastic, known as polylimonene carbonate, the

scientists used molecules from two sources, carbon dioxide and

limonene oxide, which comes from the peel of citrus fruits and other

plants.

" Limonene has been around forever, carbon dioxide as well. What we've

been able to do is devise this catalyst for the first time that

allows these two small molecules to come together to make a plastic, "

said Cornell chemistry professor Geoffrey Coates.

The catalyst used in the chemical process is a compound that contains

a small amount of zinc. The zinc in the catalyst is the type found in

the common sunscreen zinc oxide.

The limonene oxide liquid, the CO2 gas, and the catalyst are combined

to make a white powder. That powder can be melted into things

typically made from plastic, such as disposable cups.

This new plastic has some properties similar to polystyrene, a

petroleum-based plastic that's in hundreds of household products.

The Cornell research team, including and Byrne, are

testing to see how sturdy it is and how it might hold up to heat and

cold. They are also evaluating its biodegradable properties.

Details of this orange-based alternative are published in the Journal

of the American Chemical Society.

The research is funded by the National Science Foundation.

Coates says the discovery is stirring a lot of commercial inquiries.

" I'm getting deluged by people wanting to know more, " Coates

said. " It's fun to talk to people envisioning other uses for this. "

Researchers in Florida say they are always looking for beneficial

uses for citrus byproducts.

" Basically when an orange comes into a juice processing plant, 50 to

60 percent is juice, the rest is waste, " said Robin , research

manager for the Florida Department of Citrus.

says sometimes orange peel is dried and added to cattle feed.

Limonene already is an ingredient in many cleaning products, she

said, and scientists are researching ways to create ethanol from

citrus waste.

Polylimonene carbonate could possibly be used as a less toxic

ingredient in making cast iron and cast aluminum, or as an ingredient

in some herbicides or pesticides.

But even with growing commercial possibilities for renewable

resources, Coates cautions the route from lab to store is long.

" In terms of a timeline for discoveries being converted into

commercial products, these numbers can vary from months to years, or

in some cases, never, " he said.

And it is unlikely that these green alternatives will ever completely

replace the huge quantities of oil-based plastics in the world.

" Last year the world production (of limonene) was around 150 million

pounds. This will never replace polymers such as polyethylene. Last

year just in North America we made 42 billion pounds of polythylene, "

said Coates.

But nature seems to have an abundance of other possible building

blocks for new polymers, from fruits to corn to pine trees.

" We're really excited about not only using a byproduct from the

orange juice industry but also from the paper industry, " said Coates.

When timber is processed into paper, one byproduct is a compound

called pinene, which gives pine cleaning products their smell.

The scientists are also trying to find out if they can combine carbon

dioxide with compounds made from vegetable oil, which is abundant and

very inexpensive.

Cheers, Al Pater.