List of Puerto Rican Scientists and Inventors - Inventors - Plastics

Plastics

Three Puerto Rican inventors, Guanglou Cheng and Carlos A. Ramirez, both of Mayagüez and Maria Aponte of Añasco, Puerto Rico, developed biodegradable polymers. A polymer is a large molecule (macromolecule) composed of repeating structural units connected by covalent chemical bonds. Well-known examples of polymers include plastics, DNA and proteins. According to the abstract released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Degradable polymides are prepared in high yield by polymerizing a monomer containing at least two anhydride groups, and a monomer containing at least two primary amine groups and at least one acidic group, in bulk or in a solvent. The polymides are very strong in terms of their mechanical properties, yet degradable under standard physiological conditions." The inventors were issued U.S. Patent No. 7,427,654.

Read more about this topic:  List Of Puerto Rican Scientists And Inventors, Inventors