Approximately 50% of global plastic wastes are produced from plastic packaging, a substantial amount of which is disposed of within a few minutes of its use. Although many plastic types are designed for single use, they are not always disposable. It is now widely acknowledged that the production and disposal of plastics have led to a plethora of negative consequences, including the contamination of both groundwater and soil resources and the deterioration of human health. The undeniable impact of excessive plastic manufacturing and waste generation on the global plastic pollution crisis has been well documented. Therefore, degradable polymers are a crucial solution to the problem of the non-degradation of plastic wastes. The disadvantage of degradable polymers is their high cost, so blending them with natural polymers will reduce the cost of final products and maximize their degradation rate, making degradable polymers competitive with industrial polymers that are currently in use daily. In this work, we will delineate various degradable polymers, including polycaprolactone, starch, and cellulose. Furthermore, we will elucidate several aspects of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and its blends with natural polymers to show the effects of adding natural polymers on PVA properties. This paper will study cost-effective and ecologically acceptable polymers by combining inexpensive natural polymers with readily accessible biodegradable polymers such as polyvinyl alcohol (PVA).

Toxic heavy metals, such as Pb(II) and Cd(II), pose serious environmental and health risks, stressing the urgent demand for innovative and sustainable techniques to reduce their adverse effects. This study investigates the use of sugar beet biowaste as an eco-friendly biosorbent for the removal of Pb(II) and Cd(II) from aqueous solutions, in both laboratory and industrial effluents. Characterization through scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy revealed the formation of stable hydrocerussite and otavite, confirming chemisorption. Approximately 95% of the employed biowaste is composed of calcium (Ca), carbon (C), and oxygen (O). The zeta potential was measured at − 17.5 mV with a point of zero charge at pH 8.0, and the total surface area of the biosorbent was approximately 7.72 m² g⁻¹, with a Langmuir surface area of 11.563 m² g⁻¹ and a pore volume of 0.028 cm³ g⁻¹. Various parameters, such as the metal concentration, biosorbent dosage, pH, temperature, and contact time, were optimized, achieving maximum removal of Pb(II) and Cd(II) within 60 min at pH 12 and 328 K. Sorption followed a pseudo-second-order kinetic model (R² = 0.99) and the Freundlich isotherm (R² = 0.98), with high sorption capacities of 466.5 mg g⁻¹ for Pb(II) and 505.6 mg g⁻¹ for Cd(II). Thermodynamic analysis indicated that the sorption process is spontaneous, thermodynamically favorable, and endothermic. The biowaste effectively removed heavy metals and demonstrated removal efficiencies exceeding 85% for most heavy metals in industrial effluent samples from Alexandria and Ain Sokhna. Sorption capacity ratio values close to 1 indicate effective Pb(II) and Cd(II) uptake with minimal interference, even in the presence of methylene blue dye. Comparative analysis revealed that the untreated biosorbent was more efficient than typical biosorbents, and an economic cost evaluation revealed that processing the biosorbent costs 1.05 USD/kg, highlighting its potential as a sustainable and economically viable option for industrial effluent treatment and supporting broader environmental goals.

In the recent past, it has been found that the use of onium salts as acid-generating species has improved the performance of photoresists, particularly for microelectronic applications. However, little research has been dedicated to the use of these photo-initiators in aqueous-developable resists. This work describes the synthesis and characterization of some water-soluble polymers and investigates the feasibility of employing one of the onium salts in the formulation of a resist polymer for use in aqueous conditions. The ability of this onium salt to photo-initiate the cationic polymerization of epoxies residues was exploited using water-soluble copolymers, containing glycidyl methacrylate (GMA). The comonomers included methacrylic acid. Various copolymers were prepared by radical copolymerization typically in methyl ethyl ketone. It was found that the copolymer containing 85 mol.% of GMA unit in feed was soluble in aqueous base and crosslinked in the presence of photogenerated acid caused by acid-initiated ring opening polymerization of the pendant epoxide groups. A good pattern with reasonable resolution was attained by exposure to a UV lamp with λ = 365 nm light followed by a post exposure bake at 80^° C for 1 min.