Researchers at the Catalonia Institute of Chemistry have been able to produce polycarbonates with a process using limonene and carbon dioxide. It could be the alternative to bisphenol A, suspected of having adverse effects on the endocrine system and the hormone system.
To create a "bio" plastic, replacing potentially harmful substances with lemon would be a great advancement for fighting plastic pollution in the world. This is how a team of researchers from the Catalan Chemical Research Institute has done. Experts have worked on polycarbonates: materials used everywhere, from smartphone protecting boxes to airplane wings, but which cause perplexity because of the presumed toxicity of bisphenol A (BPA), one of the major molecules in the production of polycarbonates.
In a study published in the journal ACS Catalysis, researchers have explained that they have developed a method of producing polycarbonates using two abundant substances in nature: lemonene - a hydrocarbon in citrus fruit peel - and CO2, that is, carbon dioxide.
Lemonene, in particular, seems to be able to replace the BPA, which is under the EU magnifying glass. Last month, the EU Member States Committee on Chemical Substances agreed unanimously, highlighting the possibility that bisphenol A would have harmful effects on the endocrine system and the hormone system. The decision opens up to future restrictive measures on its use, which has been banned from Europe since 2011 for the production of baby bottles.
Substituting BPA which is produced from oil, with limonene obtained from lemons and oranges would offer a more green and sustainable alternative.
References
This is not the first attempt though:
http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2005/01/making-plastics-oranges
