New category of plastic: Vitrimers inventor Ludwik Leibler receives European Inventor Award in research category
- Leibler is recognised at awards ceremony in Paris for his "magic plastic"
- Vitrimers are a new class of plastics that can be endlessly reshaped and recycled while remaining robust
- Glass-like material repairs itself
- EPO President Benoît Battistelli: "Leibler's invention has the potential to contain the ever-growing amount of plastic waste."
Munich/Paris, 11 June 2015 - Car scratches, a crack in a crash helmet or a broken toy. None of this is a problem anymore thanks to the ground-breaking invention of 63-year-old chemist Ludwik Leibler: Just heat it up and the damage can be mended. The leading Polish-born French scientist is considered a pioneer in polymer physics. With the invention of vitrimers, the professor and director of the Laboratory for Soft Matter and Chemistry at ESPCI ParisTech (Ecole Supérieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielles) has provided the basis for ecological plastic and thus a solution to the steadily growing amount of non-degradable plastic waste.
For his outstanding achievements, the European Patent Office (EPO) today honoured Ludwik Leibler with the European Inventor Award in the "Research" category. The award ceremony at the Palais Brongniart, the historical Paris stock exchange, was attended by some 400 prominent representatives of the fields of politics, science and industry. "Plastics are part and parcel of everyday life," said EPO President Benoît Battistelli presenting the award. "Thanks to Ludwik Leibler's invention, conventional plastic can now be replaced with recyclable vitrimers, which means that the ecological damage caused by plastic waste can be considerably reduced."
From vision to award-winning invention
It only very rarely happens that completely new categories of materials are developed, let alone such that combine seemingly contradictory features. Leibler's new material is as hard as metal, while still being recyclable and repairable. Unlike conventional plastics, it is also endlessly malleable. "To develop a novel concept such as vitrimers, you need vision, courage, curiosity and a bit of luck," says Leibler, who is also director of research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). While trying to develop the new material together with François-Genes Tournilhac and Corinne Soulié-Ziakovic he experimented with thermoset plastic. Adding zinc and carboxylic acid as a catalyst turned out to be the breakthrough for the team of researchers. At 150°C an astonishing reaction can be observed: Molecules change their binding partner, while the actual number of bonds among the molecules remains the same. Consequently, the material is malleable without liquefying. Vitrimers were born.
Light and sturdy alternative to metal and glass
Leibler protected his invention with a patent, not least because of its wide range of potential applications. Explaining the advantages of the new class of plastic, the scientist says: "It is a solid material which is completely insoluble. It can be processed in a very wide range of temperatures and it's 100 per cent recyclable. In contrast to conventional polymers, it also does not suddenly melt." Vitrimers are a light and sturdy alternative to glass and metal. When heated, they can be welded like metals which allows complex object shapes that are either impossible to obtain by moulding or could only be achieved using very laborious and therefore expensive procedures. Vitrimers could be deployed anywhere where plastic is used, for example in aircraft construction, for bicycle helmets or wind turbine blades.
Organic glue for medical purposes
The vitrimer concept of molecule compounds also opens up opportunities in medical technology: Ludwik Leibler is currently researching a glue made up of silica sand nanoparticles that work similarly to vitrimers. This water-based nanogel can be applied to biological tissue in order to dynamically bind it together and achieve adhesion, thereby sealing wounds or stopping bleeding. "The nanoparticles build variable bonds to the tissue that are strong enough to unite two tissues," explains Leibler. It only takes two minutes for the mineral nanoparticles to seal open skin wounds or attach medical devices to tissue and organs.
And what are the visionary's future plans? "It's difficult; we still don't know what we will research next year. Most important is that it will be fun, interesting and can be useful to people," says the scientist being honoured today in Paris.
Media materials for Ludwik Leibler
View the patent: EP1465930
Note to editors: availability of AV and photo materials on 11 June |
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More information about all 15 European Inventor Award finalists (including AV, photo and text materials) is available in the EPO Media Centre . |
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