(Micro)Plastics in the aquatic environment are an issue of emerging concern. However, to date, there is considerable lack of knowledge on the abundance and toxicity of plastic debris in aquatic ecosystems, especially with regard to the freshwater situation. In this editorial, we briefly discuss important aspects of the research on environmental (micro)plastics to stimulate research and call for...

In the last few decades, there has been a dramatic increase in industrial and urban activities, culminating in the need for people to adopt improved living conditions. This has led to an increase in the use of packaging materials, mainly in the form of plastic. Plastics have become an indispensable part of today’s world. Due to their lightweight, durability, energy efficiency, coupled with ease...

plastics are well-established for convenient and safe packaging and distribution of food and feed goods. at present, this special sector of the plastic market displays remarkably increasing quantities of its annual production. caused by the ongoing limitation and strongly fluctuating prices of fossil feedstocks, classically used for plastic production, there is an evident trend to switch toward...

In this era of portability and rapid technological advances, polymers are more than ever under pressure to be cheap and offer tailored property profiles. Often, the key lies in designing blends and alloys carefully structured at the appropriate scale (preferably less than a micrometre) from existing polymers. Block copolymers - two or more different polymer chains linked together - have long be...

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