Degradable polymers for application in personal care

学生将解决一次性塑料和微塑料日益增加的压力，消费者越来越意识到他们的家用产品中的聚合物成分。在快速消费品行业中广泛使用的许多合成聚合物通常是很差的（生物）可降解的，对环境持久性材料的负面公关的增加对联合利华来说是一个重大挑战。替代聚合物技术是需要的，但支持其创造的许多基本见解并不存在。该项目将研究聚合物改性及其对性能和性能的影响，特别关注（生物）可降解性。目的是产生设计规则，可应用于合成新聚合物的配方产品。

The student will be addressing the mounting pressure on single-use plastics and microplastics, consumers are becoming more aware of the polymer ingredients in their household products. Many of the synthetic polymers widely used in FMCG industry are generally poorly (bio)degradable, and the increase in negative PR towards environmentally persistent materials represents a significant challenge for Unilever. Alternative polymer technologies are needed, but much of the fundamental insight that would support their creation does not exist. This project will investigate polymer modification and its effect on properties and performance, with special interest in (bio)degradability. The aim is to generate design rules that can be applied to synthesis of new polymers for formulated products.