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An illustration of chemical reactions |
A research team from Germany, led by Lutz Ackermann, at a
research institute in Germany, has proven that polystyrene can be degraded
efficiently through an electro-catalyst method.
They used iron as the catalyst for this. They have proven
through chemical studies that polystyrene can be degraded and recycled using
iron as a catalyst.
During this recycling, green hydrogen gas is released. This
hydrogen gas is used as an excellent fuel. This study was entirely done to
degrade polystyrene through a chemical reaction and recycle it, but the
products obtained from this study are useful for us in a different way.
Hydrogen can be used as an excellent fuel, and at the same
time, benzoic acid is also released during this chemical reaction. Benzoic acid
is used in perfumes. So it can be used in perfumes.
Generally, the most non-biodegradable material in the world
is polystyrene. It takes many years to decompose, but it is continuously being
produced. Due to this, the earth is getting polluted.
Scientists in every country are researching various ways for this. Currently, only one per cent of it is recycled, but with this method, we can recycle a higher percentage.