A single laundry load containing synthetic clothing can release thousands of plastic microfibers from nylon, acrylic and ...

(Nanowerk News) Most life on Earth is based on polymers of 20 amino acids that have evolved into hundreds of thousands of different, highly specialized proteins. They catalyze reactions, form backbone ...

Researchers have developed a new method to image polymerization catalysis reactions one monomer at a time. Synthetic polymers are everywhere in our society -- from nylon and polyester clothing to ...

With this in mind, it has become crucial to investigate flame retardants for plastics. The goal is to improve the material's resistance to fire and reduce the heat release and flame spreading speed.

Scientists developing new biomaterials often try to mimic the body's natural proteins, but a chemist shows that simpler polymers -- based on a handful of plastic building blocks -- also work well.