Glue strong enough to tow a car made from used cooking oil

1. Chemistry

Glue strong enough to tow a car made from used cooking oil

News By Mason Wakley published 8 December 2025

Chemists used waste cooking oil to create a sustainable, super-sticky adhesive that's strong enough to hold up hundreds of pounds of weight.

3 Comments Join the conversation

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

A newly discovered polymer made from waste cooking oil is strong enough to hold up hundreds of pounds of weight, new research finds. (Image credit: Getty Images (background) / Mahadas et al. (inset))

Scientists have converted waste cooking oil into various recyclable plastics with exceptional strength — and some were even durable enough to tow a car.

Turning nonedible waste into useful polymers is a sustainable way to create new materials, the researchers said in a new study published Nov. 28 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

"Waste streams offer a potentially attractive alternative to biomass-derived feedstocks [to make plastics]," the researchers wrote in the study.

You may like

• Scientists invent way to use E. coli to create and dye rainbow-colored fabric in the lab
• Self-healing 'concrete batteries' now 10 times better — they could one day power cities, scientists say
• China's new 'solar-power window coating' can capture energy and power household devices

One such waste stream is used cooking oil, where nearly 3.7 billion gallons is generated each year. This waste oil has so far found uses in lubricants, nonstick coatings and fuel, but much of it still gets thrown away. In the new research, the scientists found a way to convert the waste oil into useful plastic materials that are strongly adhesive and recyclable.

Oil consists of long chains of fatty acids bound to molecules of glycerol (also known as glycerin). The researchers chemically broke the oil molecules apart and then transformed the products into simpler molecules through a series of reactions.

Combining the final alcohol and ester molecules in various ways allowed the researchers to synthesize a range of polyester plastics. (Ester molecules have a carbon atom doubly bonded to an oxygen atom and also to a single oxygen atom with a carbon side chain.)

Testing the plastics' properties, including their melting points and crystallinity, revealed that these polymers are similar to low-density polyethylene (LDPE), a plastic that is commonly used in packaging and plastic bags.

Sign up for the Live Science daily newsletter now

Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox.

Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

The polyesters were also sticky, due to oxygen atoms in the polymer that form strong bonds with a range of materials. This is unlike LDPE, which is a hydrocarbon with only carbon and hydrogen atoms.

Two metal plates stuck together with the cooking oil adhesive proved strong enough to hold up hundreds of pounds of weight (left) as well as tow a car (right). (Image credit: Mahadas et al.)

The researchers tested the polymer's adhesive strength by sticking two stainless-steel plates together. The plates remained tightly glued, even when up to 270 pounds (123 kilograms) of weight was attached. Towing a four-door sedan on a slightly uphill slope with these glued steel pieces also proved no trouble. This makes these polymers equal to or stronger than the commercially available adhesives that the team also tested.

related stories

—Scientists break down cheap plastic using the air — and turn it into something far more valuable

—Are biodegradable plastics really worth the hype?

—Will we ever be able to stop using plastic?

These properties make these adhesives "ideal for applications in laminates and glues used in packaging, automotive components, medical devices, and electronics," the researchers wrote.

The polyester plastics were easily recycled into their original components and later remade back into plastic. Several cycles of recycling showed little impact on the plastics' properties. Some plastics could also be recycled along with other common plastics, like high-density polyethylene and polypropylene.

"This work highlights the potential of nonedible biomass waste as a renewable feedstock for…environmentally friendly alternatives to petroleum-based plastics," the researchers wrote.

Mason WakleyLive Science contributor

Mason Wakley is a freelance science journalist from the UK, most interested in chemistry, materials and environmental science. He was a 2025 Chemistry World intern. Mason has a masters in chemistry from the University of Oxford.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.

Logout Read more Scientists invent way to use E. coli to create and dye rainbow-colored fabric in the lab    Self-healing 'concrete batteries' now 10 times better — they could one day power cities, scientists say    China's new 'solar-power window coating' can capture energy and power household devices    Science history: Scientists use 'click chemistry' to watch molecules in living organisms — Oct. 23, 2007    On Saturn's largest moon, water and oil would mix — opening the door to exotic chemistry in our solar system    Humanoid robots could lift 4,000 times their own weight thanks to breakthrough 'artificial muscle'    Latest in Chemistry Science history: Chemists discover buckyballs — the most perfect molecules in existence — Nov. 14, 1985    Scientists invent way to use E. coli to create and dye rainbow-colored fabric in the lab    Why does boiling water have bubbles, except in a microwave?    Science history: Scientists use 'click chemistry' to watch molecules in living organisms — Oct. 23, 2007    'Harry Potter' materials land three scientists Nobel Prize in chemistry    Why do avocados turn brown so quickly — and are they OK to eat at that point?    Latest in News This bright star will soon die in a nuclear explosion — and could be visible in Earth's daytime skies    The Arab region — a swath from Morocco to the United Arab Emirates — just had its hottest year on record    Gray hair may have evolved as a protection against cancer, study hints    Widespread cold virus you've never heard of may play key role in bladder cancer    How to find the 'Christmas Star' — and what it really is    Glue strong enough to tow a car made from used cooking oil    LATEST ARTICLES

1. 1This bright star will soon die in a nuclear explosion — and could be visible in Earth's daytime skies
2. 2The Arab region — a swath from Morocco to the United Arab Emirates — just had its hottest year on record
3. 3Earth's crust hides enough 'gold' hydrogen to power the world for tens of thousands of years, emerging research suggests
4. 4Widespread cold virus you've never heard of may play key role in bladder cancer
5. 5Gray hair may have evolved as a protection against cancer, study hints