Every year, 3.5 million metric tons of sodden diapers end up in landfills.
Every year, 3.5 million metric tons of sodden diapers end up in landfills.
The superabsorbent material inside these diapers is made up of a matrix of polymers that expand once dampness hits them. Polymers are a long chain of repeating units, and in this case, the absorbent material in diapers is based on the polymer polyacrylic acid.
A University of Michigan team has developed a technique to untangle these absorbent polymers and recycle them into materials similar to the gooey adhesives used in sticky notes and bandages. Their results are published in Nature Communications.
Broadly, recycling can be grouped into mechanical recycling and chemical recycling.
Read more at University of Michigan
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