{"id":518848,"date":"2026-06-30T21:22:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T21:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/518848\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T21:22:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T21:22:15","slug":"masked-acid-rescues-popular-polymer-from-languishing-in-composters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/518848\/","title":{"rendered":"Masked acid rescues popular polymer from languishing in composters"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A tiny chemical additive could prove to be a big hero in the world of biodegradable polymers. By incorporating small amounts of what they describe as a \u201cmasked acid\u201d into polylactic acid<\/a> (PLA), a team of chemists and chemical engineers have found they can speed up the breakdown of this plastic, which currently takes place only under the hot and humid conditions of industrial composting. The biodegradation boost this additive provides may make PLA suitable for at-home composting (ACS Cent. Sci. 2026, DOI: 10.1021\/acscentsci.6c00395).<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019ve ever used compostable cutlery, a plastic cup, or any kind of tableware like that, it\u2019s almost certainly PLA,\u201d says Marc A. Hillmyer<\/a>, a chemistry professor at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities who led the research with chemical engineering colleague Christopher J. Ellison<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Structure
\n Structure of PLA.<\/p>\n

Water breaks PLA into lactic acid, thanks to the polymer\u2019s backbone of hydrolyzable ester bonds. But the process is slow\u2014by some estimates it can take 100 years for PLA to degrade at 20 \u00b0C and 50% relative humidity. Industrial composting, which operates at higher temperature and humidity, does a better job, but most people don\u2019t have access to these systems. Ellison, Hillmyer, and colleagues discovered that adding scant amounts of cyclic anhydrides\u2014specifically, 2-sulfobenzoic acid cyclic anhydride and phthalic anhydride\u2014speed up the degradation process.<\/p>\n

\"Structure
\n Structure of phthalic anhydride.<\/p>\n

The researchers had previously shown that carboxylic acids, such as salicylic acid, could accelerate PLA degradation, but these acids interfere with PLA\u2019s properties when molding the material. Ellison and Hillmyer\u2019s team found that anhydrides function as masked acids. The anhydrides don\u2019t impact PLA\u2019s properties during molding, but when they\u2019re exposed to water at elevated temperature, the anhydride springs open to reveal two acid moieties. These acids accelerate PLA\u2019s degradation, even if they\u2019re present at just parts-per-million levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think there\u2019s real commercial viability, because it\u2019s used at such low concentration,\u201d Ellison says.<\/p>\n

\"Structure
\n Structure of 2-sulfobenzoic acid cyclic anhydride.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, the anhydrides decrease the temperature and humidity required to break down PLA so that it\u2019s within the range of home composting systems. For example, PLA mixed with 2-sulfobenzoic acid cyclic anhydride degraded in 98 days at 45 \u00b0C, 49 days faster than plain PLA. And the researchers can dial in the degradation properties based on the anhydride they use. \u201cWhat this work has taught us is that there\u2019s room to tailor the degradation profile of these materials,\u201d Ellison says.<\/p>\n

Sarah-Jeanne Royer, an oceanographer who studies plastic degradation with the Ocean Cleanup<\/a> and was not involved in the research, says the work is scientifically novel and industrially attractive. \u201cIt offers a simple, industrially realistic solution to one of PLA\u2019s biggest limitations: its very slow degradation outside industrial composting,\u201d she says in an email.<\/p>\n

But Royer notes that the paper doesn\u2019t establish if the anhydride-modified PLA will behave more favorably in the real world or reduce plastic pollution. \u201cBridging that gap, from accelerated laboratory degradation to verified environmental outcomes, remains the most important challenge for future research,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Ellison and Hillmyer say their next steps will be to ensure that anhydride additives don\u2019t have a negative impact on composting systems or other PLA additives. \u201cWe have to make sure what we\u2019re doing is making a benefit from the sustainable plastics arena but not compromising something else,\u201d Hillmyer says.<\/p>\n

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