Abstract: Photochemical reactions are conducted using floating polymer beads on the surface of a moving body of water. The polymer bead is impregnated with a reactant, floated on the water in direct sunlight so as to expose the reactant to solar radiation, collected at a downstream location, treated to remove product from the polymer, and then the bead can be recycled. The process can be used to collect and store solar energy in chemical form, or for conducting photochemical synthesis to produce useful chemical products.

Abstract: Polymer compositions which have accelerated rates of degradation on exposure to ultraviolet radiation, e.g. direct sunlight in an outdoor environment, comprise a blend of a major proportion of a normal, standard synthetic polymer, e.g. polyethylene, and a minor proportion of a graft or block copolymer of a ketone group containing monomer, e.g. methyl vinyl ketone, graft or block copolymerized onto a backbone polymer e.g. of polyethylene. The composition can be molded, extruded and otherwise fabricated in the normal way to produce disposable, photodegradable plastic articles such as containers, wrapping films and the like.

Abstract: Condensation polymers such as polyamides, polyesters, polyurethanes, polyepoxides, polyamide esters, polyureas and polyamino-acids which are photodegradable on exposure to U.V. light, due to the presence in the copolymer backbone of units of structure ##STR1## in small amounts.