Plastic that Dissolves in Water

 


New research from Northeastern University that will significantly impact our environment. Researchers have developed a new plastic that dissolves in water. The research was posted in the journal Nature Communications. The study uses living materials, those that use living cells to create functional materials. 

Researchers explain that nature inspired solutions can be created to regenerate, regulate and respond to stimuli. Amazing experiments have been conducted to adhere, catalyze, and remediate these living materials. The attempts have not been scalable for widespread production.

There is a new product to pick up the torch.

It's called MECHS, it's an E-coli bacteria with a fibrous matrix. It creates a film-like material. It can stretch like plastic wrap or become less stiff.  It's healable, water can detangle the fibers and drying can retangle them. Lastly, the material can be easily mass produced just like paper manufacturing. 

Manjula Basavanna is lead researcher on the project. He summarizes: "Plastic pollution being a global problem, we are focusing on targeting the low-hanging fruit of plastic packaging, which comprises nearly one third of the plastic market. For such a short lifespan of packaging, the petro chemical plastics that can take hundreds of years to biodegrade are unnecessary in many cases and thus a sustainable alternative like MECHS due to it's biodegradability, flush ability, and mechanical turn ability could be a game changer."

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