Reply #25: China scientists find use for cigarette butts [View All]

Toxic chemicals can be recycled to protect steel pipes from rusting
By Tan Ee Lyn

updated 8:52 a.m. PT, Thurs., May 13, 2010
HONG KONG - Chemical extracts from cigarette butts — so toxic they kill fish — can be used to protect steel pipes from rusting, a study in China has found.

In a paper published in the American Chemical Society's bi-weekly journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, the scientists in China said they identified nine chemicals after immersing cigarette butts in water.

They applied the extracts to N80, a type of steel used in oil pipes, and found that they protected the steel from rusting.

"The metal surface can be protected and the iron atom's further dissolution can be prevented," they wrote.

The chemicals, including nicotine, appear to be responsible for this anti-corrosion effect, they added.


More at:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37130972/ns/technology_and_science-innovation/