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RE: We Created Plastic. We can't do without it. Now, We're Dying in it: A Study of how Degrading Plastic Emits Greenhouse Gases

in #stemng6 years ago

Useful topic. I would spend time to present similar material to students in my lab. It's very important to understand that all plastics aren't alike! Also, I talked about solvent effects on plastic labware.

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Ask me some day about how one of my labbmates found out that methanol attacks acrylic.

I always used this rule (weak > strong vs most common plastics):
H2O < 70% isopropanol < methanol < ethanol < acetonitrile < ether, THF < acetone < benzene, toluene, hydrocarbons << dimethylformamide (DMF), N-methylpyrolidone (NMP). I broke a gallon jug of NMP and it turned the special lab floor tiles to semisolid putty!

I'm going to have to mention this. One of our lab mates did not understand the difference between denatured and non-denatured. Some of the denaturants in that batch were benzene, toluene, and naptha. There's now some plasticware we no longer need to disinfect...

Thanks for the comment..You should have a nice day