Polyurethanes, a type of plastic, are present almost everywhere – in shoes, clothes, refrigerators and
Researchers will present their results at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS).
If successfully developed, polyurethane based on fish oil waste will eliminate the need for more environmentally friendly plastics.
The traditional way of producing polyurethanes is harmful to the environment and to humans.This requires crude oil, a non-renewable resource, and phosgene, a colorless and highly toxic gas.As a result of synthesis, isocyanates, potent respiratory irritants, and the final product are formedAnd if it does, carcinogenic compounds are released.
Previously, other scientists have developed new polyurethanesusing vegetable oils to replace oil. However, they also have a drawback. Often, oils are obtained from crops that require land, an important resource, to grow.
Fish waste is often thrown away, but sometimesextract fat. Chemists have developed a process for converting it into a polyurethane polymer. They add oxygen to the oil to form epoxies. After their reaction with carbon dioxide, the scientists linked the resulting molecules together with nitrogen-containing amines, forming a new material.
The study authors note that the new, environmentally friendly polyurethane does not smell like fish.
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Phosgene is a chemical with the formula CCl₂, whenunder normal conditions, it is a colorless, extremely toxic and suffocating gas with a smell of rotten hay. Phosgene is a large-scale product of industrial organic synthesis, world production in 2015 was 8.526 million tons.
Isocyanates are organic compounds containing the -N = C = O functional group.
Epoxides are saturated three-membered heterocycles,containing one oxygen atom in the cycle. Epoxides are cyclic ethers, however, due to the tension of the three-membered ring, they are highly reactive in ring opening reactions.
Polyurethanes are hetero-chain polymers, the macromolecule of which contains an unsubstituted and / or substituted urethane group -N (R) -CO-, where R is H, alkyl, aryl or acyl.
Amines are organic compounds that arederivatives of ammonia, in the molecule of which several hydrogen atoms are replaced by hydrocarbon radicals. According to the number of substituted hydrogen atoms, primary, secondary and tertiary amines are distinguished, respectively. Quaternary ammonium compounds of the R₄N⁺X⁻ type are also distinguished.