Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University
The researchers grew a blackeye pea plant in soil enriched with its chitosan bioplastic over a three-week period – demonstrating the material’s potential to encourage plant growth once it is returned to the environment.
Researchers from Harvard University – Wyss Institute for Biologically-Inspired Engineering developed a fully degradable bioplastic by synthesizing chitosan with silk fibroin protein that mimics the microarchitecture of natural insect cuticle. The material, called “Shrilk”, can be used to manufacture objects without the environmental impact posed by conventional synthetic plastics by rapidly biodegrades when returned to the environment in landfills or used as compost.
The biomaterial is proving to be extremely flexible and may be used for developing implantable hydrogels, 3D scaffolds, foams, and films for surgical closure, wound healing, tissue engineering, drug delivery, and regenerative medicine applications. Initial experiments demonstrates that the chitosan-fibroin complex can be used in agricultural applications. For example, it has delivered nutrients as a natural growth elicitor for plants.
Humans produce over 300 million tons of plastic per year and recycle only 3%, leaving the other 97% to break down in oceans and landfills where they harm the food chain and our environment. A large number of bioplastics on the market today are made from cellulose, a plant-based polysaccharide material, finding application in packaging and simple containers for food or drinks. However, engineers have been unable to shape these materials into complex 3D shapes while providing the hardiness that is characteristic of conventional plastics.
The Wyss Institute’s bioplastic is made using chitosan, a form of chitin, which is a tough polysaccharide that is responsible for the hardy shells of shrimp and other crustaceans, armor-like insect cuticles, and flexible butterfly wings.
This technology is available for licensing from Harvard University – Wyss Institute for Biologically-Inspired Engineering
