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.

Scientists from the University of Birmingham have identified synthetic polymers that encourage beneficial bacteria to form biofilms, thereby improving their biocatalytic activity. Given that many ...

Plastics are synthetic or semi-synthetic materials made from polymers, which are long chains of molecules typically derived from petroleum, natural gas, or other organic sources. Plastics are ...

The sources of natural polymers can be plant-based, animal-based, and marine-derived. For instance, plant-based polymers like cellulose are widely used in paper and textile industries for their ...

A peptide sensor to detect water-soluble polymers in wastewater, a major contributor to pollution on par with microplastics, has been developed. The new technique takes advantage of the bonding that ...