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Published online 29 June 2006 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news060626-8
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Plastics get fruity
Sugar can provide the raw materials for polystyrene.
Apple juice and corn, rather than petroleum, could be the raw materials for some of the plastics and pharmaceuticals of the future, thanks to a new chemical process devised by researchers at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
Chemical engineer James Dumesic and his colleagues have figured out how to convert fructose, a sugar found in fruit, corn syrup and honey, into an important component in the making of several products of the chemicals industry.
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