Japanese Scientists Made Rubber That Eats CO₂ and Turns Into Plastic
Materials science just produced one of those results that makes you do a double take. Researchers at Japan’s Gifu University created a rubber — technically a “CO₂-curable elastomer” — that absorbs carbon dioxide from its surroundings and transforms into a rigid, acrylic-like plastic. Published in Nature Communications. How It Works The material combines polyethyleneimine (PEI), which reacts with CO₂, with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a silicone polymer that CO₂ passes through easily. On its own, PEI absorbs ~1mg of CO₂ per gram. Bonded with PDMS, it absorbs 220mg per gram — the PDMS creates internal “passageways” that let CO₂ reach PEI deep inside the material. ...
