Plastic That Grows On Trees

Wednesday, May 20, 2009 - 11:14 in Physics & Chemistry

To turn plants into a renewable, nonpolluting replacement for crude oil, scientists have to learn how to convert plant biomass into a building block for plastics and fuels cheaply and efficiently. In new research, chemists have successfully converted cellulose -- the most common plant carbohydrate -- directly into the building block called HMF in one step. This simple process generates a high yield of HMF and allows the use of raw cellulose as feed material.

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