New Copolymer a Versatile Material

Gerard Caneba hands out two plastic baggies of what look like polystyrene muffins in aluminum pans. One set is hard and flat, as if someone forgot to add the baking soda. The others are airy, fluffy balls of . . . what?

Caneba, associate professor of chemical engineering, starts a list: it's sticky but can become slippery; it's a surfactant and a foam. Plus, it can be made biodegradable.

At some point, there might be a shorter name for the stuff. But for now, this patent-pending copolymer is known by its two parts; vinyl acetate-acrylic acid. Its dual nature is what makes it so versatile.

The surfactant, or detergent, form of the copolymer dissolves into particles up to 200 times larger than regular detergents. "It can disperse big, toxic organic compounds such as PCBs much more efficiently," which could make it particularly useful in mopping up spills. And, being biodegradable, it wouldn’t be as polluting.

Surfactants are used to improve oil recovery, and it looks like vinyl acetate-acrylic acid may outperform current products--by up to 400 percent--at a much lower cost.

You can also rearrange the copolymer to produce a coating that’s slick on one side and sticky on the other. "That lets you make real low-friction surfaces," Caneba said.

See also: http://www.admin.mtu.edu/urel/breaking/2002/caneba.html