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科学美国人60秒 SSS 化学调整将聚氨酯变成胶水

时间:2020-07-01 01:11:43

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(单词翻译)

This is Scientific American 60-second Science, I'm Christine Herman.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列,我是克里斯汀·赫尔曼。

Got a minute?

有一分钟时间吗?

Polyurethane: It's used to make seat cushions, memory foam1, paint and myriad2 other products. Unfortunately, due to its widespread use, more than a million tons of polyurethane waste end up in U.S. landfills each year.

聚氨酯。这种物质被用来制作座垫、记忆泡沫、油漆和其他无数产品。不幸的是,由于聚氨酯的广泛使用,每年有超过100万吨的聚氨酯废料最终被丢弃在美国垃圾填埋场。

It's not that easy to recycle polyurethane. So the main alternative to just tossing the stuff is incineration. However:

回收利用聚氨酯没那么容易。因此,替代直接扔掉废料的主要措施是焚烧。然而:

"Incineration produces toxic3 by-products; requires a lot of heat—so a lot of energy input4 to bring it down to something that you can get rid of."

“焚烧会产生有毒的副产品,需要大量热能,所以,大量能量输入,使其分解成你能处理掉的东西。”

University of Illinois chemistry professor Steve Zimmerman.

伊利诺伊大学的化学教授史蒂夫·齐默曼说到。

He and his team therefore set out to tweak the molecules5 that make up polyurethane to make it easier for it to be converted into other useful materials.

因此,他和团队着手调整组成聚氨酯的分子,使其更易转化为其他有用材料。

The molecular6 tweaking involves inserting a chemical linker, known as an acetal, into one of the components7 that make up polyurethanes found in rubber bands, packaging and car parts. The acetal linker readily cleaves8 in the presence of acid.

分子调查包括将名为“缩醛”的化学连接剂插入组成聚氨酯的一种成分中,该成分可在橡皮筋、包装和汽车零部件中发现。缩醛连接剂遇酸很容易裂解。

"So we're breaking it down to materials that are actually different than we started with. And so what we're doing is using those to make other polyurethanes."

“因此,我们将其分解成与开始时完全不同的物质。我们所做的就是用这些物质来制造其他聚氨酯。”

In the particular process recently presented by Zimmerman's grad student Ephraim Morado at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Diego, the new polyurethanes behave like superglue.

最近,齐默曼的研究生以法莲·莫拉多在圣地亚哥举行的美国化学学会全国会议上展示了一种特殊工艺,这种新型聚氨酯的效果就像超级胶水一样。

"And it actually works better than superglue."

“事实上,它的效果比强力胶水还要好。”

The biggest hurdle9 to widespread use is the cost. But Zimmerman hopes further research will cut costs down so that the glue-making method will really stick.

广泛应用的最大障碍是成本。但齐默曼希望进一步研究能降低成本,这样胶水制作方法就能很牢固。

Thanks for the minute for Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Christine Herman.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是克里斯汀·赫尔曼。


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 foam LjOxI     
v./n.泡沫,起泡沫
参考例句:
  • The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
  • The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。
2 myriad M67zU     
adj.无数的;n.无数,极大数量
参考例句:
  • They offered no solution for all our myriad problems.对于我们数不清的问题他们束手无策。
  • I had three weeks to make a myriad of arrangements.我花了三个星期做大量准备工作。
3 toxic inSwc     
adj.有毒的,因中毒引起的
参考例句:
  • The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
  • There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。
4 input X6lxm     
n.输入(物);投入;vt.把(数据等)输入计算机
参考例句:
  • I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
  • All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。
5 molecules 187c25e49d45ad10b2f266c1fa7a8d49     
分子( molecule的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
  • Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里,大分子裂变为小分子。
6 molecular mE9xh     
adj.分子的;克分子的
参考例句:
  • The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms.这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。
  • For the pressure to become zero, molecular bombardment must cease.当压强趋近于零时,分子的碰撞就停止了。
7 components 4725dcf446a342f1473a8228e42dfa48     
(机器、设备等的)构成要素,零件,成分; 成分( component的名词复数 ); [物理化学]组分; [数学]分量; (混合物的)组成部分
参考例句:
  • the components of a machine 机器部件
  • Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。
8 cleaves c27c1bcb90d778c20962b4f1d5c9c0fc     
v.劈开,剁开,割开( cleave的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • This wood cleaves easily. 这木材好劈。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • The water cleaves the banks away like a knife. 河水象一把刀似的,把两岸削掉。 来自辞典例句
9 hurdle T5YyU     
n.跳栏,栏架;障碍,困难;vi.进行跨栏赛
参考例句:
  • The weather will be the biggest hurdle so I have to be ready.天气将会是最大的障碍,所以我必须要作好准备。
  • She clocked 11.6 seconds for the 80 metre hurdle.八十米跳栏赛跑她跑了十一秒六。

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