Andrea said she's using the carbon dioxide abundant in the environment as the basis for new biodegradable materials. "We're taking carbon dioxide, we're reacting it with another starting material called epoxides, and then making these alternating polycarbonates, and these are your plastics." Kori Andrea says the reactions with carbon dioxide are done at high pressure and yield this material. Some trapped carbon dioxide can be seen in bubbles. (Kori Andrea/Submitted)Andrea said many plastic materials now in use are made from petroleum products, which are built with carbon-hydrogen bonds and don't easily decompose.

Source: CBC News March 17, 2019 11:26 UTC