Eli5: why do shoes disintegrate when left unworn (for extended period of time) and frequently wearing them actually prevents/delays disintegration?
In: Other
Ooh, I know this one (having had a head office job at a shoe company)!
This is due to hydrolysis in Polyurethane outsoles!
PU is made of specific molecules, a bit like making something out of Lego, but each building block is made of a bunch of individual Lego bricks. Water likes to steal atoms from the PU molecules, a bit like one of your friends coming over and taking every fifth Lego brick from something you’ve built. When enough bricks are stolen by your friend the structure falls apart. This is what happens in hydrolysis – water reacts with the polymers and breaks down the complex molecule.
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