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Student's Corner
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Written by Jpan222
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Monday, 15 November 2010 08:37 |
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Dear Green Plastics,
Thank you for the great video! I will use it for my school project. But... do you know the chemical formula for the bioplastic it makes? I want to make sure I get it right.
RESPONSE FROM GREEN-PLASTICS.NET:
Hello! Thank you for your question, and I'm glad you would like to use this for your school project.
The plastic in the video is made from combining a polymer -- starch -- with a plasticizer -- glycerin -- and each of these has its own chemical formula which you can find fairly easily by doing research online.
Starch
(C6H10O5)n
Glycerin
C3H5(OH)3
It is generally true that a particular "type of bioplastic" will not have a single molecular formula, because each type of bioplastic is made up a combination of polymer, plasticizer and additives in different possible ratios.
In the case of this home-made bioplastic, it is still fairly simply because you have a small number of ingredients. But when you are talking about professionally produced bioplastics—like the materials produced by NatureWorks LLC—they usually combine different types of polymers together, mixed with plasticizers and multiple types of additives as well, in different ratios. Each one of these ingredients will have its own molecular formula.
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Discussion 
Comments
I'll make this proyect too to my final chemestry exam, but I want to know the FINAL chemical formula for bioplastics of the video, I know the reactants, but i don't know the product, please tell me the monomer formula, thanks.
Atte, Natalia, Iquique, Chile.
Thank you for your time and web site!
http://green-plastics.net/discussion/54-student/116-qaa-home-made-bioplastic-sword
This recipe is good for any kind of solid, hard object. Keep in mind it may take a long time to dry completely.
They do not produce reaction, but what about the vinagre ( CH3COOH)
There is no SINGLE formula for a "type of plastic" because plastic is made up of a number of different types of molecules. There isn't a "plastic molecule." There is a starch polymer molecule, which has one formula; there is a glycerin molecule, which has another formula. Any additives are their own molecules which have their own formulas. So there is no single "formula for the plastic."
You seem to be asking for a reaction equation for the chemical process involved in creating the plastic. That is another matter, and depends heavily on the type of plastic that you are talking about. Usually, though, it does involve reactions that convert monomers to polymers through polymerization, as you say.
or is reation between
them tellme a example
Plastic is made up of a polymer, a plasticizer, and possibly other additives. Each of these has its own chemical formula. For example, in the case of this project, you have starch and sorbitol.... you can look up the chemical formulas for each of these fairly easily.
When they combine, the polymers "tangle" and the sorbitol acts as a kind of physical "lubricant" between the molecules, but they are not combining chemically to form some kind of "plastic molecule". There is no such thing.
It is possible if I leave it in the refrigerator can leave drier, also if you tell me the chemical formula for bioplastics or chemical structure than demonstrative in your video.
And finally in the economic and help this bioplastic to save. If possible can you tell me what kind of plastic is what worked for example an acid Polylactic (PLA), Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) plastics or Polyamide 11 (PA 11).
Wow. That's a lot of questions all at once. Let's see what I can do.
1) If you are interested in making it dry FASTER, your best bet is to keep it in a warm and dry place. The key is evaporation. Some people have said that they get it to dry faster by blowing it with a hairdryer!
2) If you want it to be STRONGER, your best bet is to either make it thicker or use a stronger polymer than starch. We have advice about that in this article:
http://green-plastics.net/discussion/54-student/129-qaa-starch-plastic-tensile-strength
3) The polymer used in the plastic in the video is STARCH, which is a polymer that is composed as a chain of (C6H10O5) monomers. You can find out more about starch easily, for example, on Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starch
4) I'm afraid I do not understand this sentence: "And finally in the economic and help this bioplastic to save." Can you try to clarify the question.
Thanks for your comment and I'm sorry I wasn't able to be more help!
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