Week 7 | Transforming bioplastics
This week was all about bioplastics. We learned the four steps of designing materials and cooked our own homemade bioplastics.
Making bioplastics
I used the Bioplastic Cookbook for basic recepies and my kitchen for inspiration.
Goal
In week 5, we made a mold with the 3D printer. I will experiment on making bioplastics and use this mold for the end result.
This mold, will make another mold if you pour a mixture of a bioplastic in it. I will use this bioplastic mold to make another bioplastic.
Index
Basic agar agar foam
Gelatine with pureed raspberry
Agar agar cooked with mandarine juice instead of water
Cornstrach with dried hibiscus
Gelatine foam with poppy seeds
Agar agar with paprika spices
Cornstarch with pure cocoa powder
Agar agar foam with mallow
1 - Basic agar Agar foam
Ingredients Glycerine - 2,7 g Water - 40 g Agar agar - 1,6 g Hand soap - 1 pump of handsoap
The first bioplastic that caught my attention was made with agar agar and soap. What I liked about this was the spongy look that this material has.
Since this was the first attempt, I almost strictly adhered to the recipe to see if it went well. The only differnce is that I used handsoap instead of dish soap.
As soon as I added the soap, the mixture foamed and the substance thickened a bit.
I poured the mixture into a wooden bowl. This, because I want to test different surfaces to see what works best, most beautiful and easiest.
Result
2 - Gelatine with pureed raspberry
Ingredients Glycerin - 7,2 g Water - 60 g Gelatine - 12 g Raspberry - 2/3 pieces
With this bioplastic I wanted to use a different recipe and add a color to it. Gelatin plastic has a nice smooth texture, so I decided to make it and try it out. I mashed raspberries and added a little while cooking for the colour.
What struck me when making this gelatin bioplastic is that I did not get a lot of froth and it did not get very thick during cooking while it has to do that according the cookbook. Still, I poured it into a mold and I was curious about the result.
I put the maximum amount of glycerine in it (according to the cookbook). This ensures that the bioplastic should become very flexible.
As a mold I used a mini baking tin in the shape of a bundt cake.
Result
3 - Agar Agar with mandarine juice instead of water
Ingredients 1,6 g - Agar 40 ml - Tangerine juice 4,3 g - Glycerine
This bioplastic is also made from agar agar, but without soap. So you don't get the foam effect here. I changed the color here by squeezing a mandarin and using this juice instead of the 40ml of water I had to add.
The amount of glycerine is 4.3. This is quite high, so the end result has to be quite flexible.
Here, too, I used a mini baking tin that I found in my kitchen. This baking tin is rectangular, flexible and has a flat wall and surface.
Result
4 - Cornstarch with dried hibiscus
Ingredients Glycerin - 5 g Water - 80 ml Cornstarch - 1,6 g White vinegar - 15 ml Hibiscus - 2/3 pieces
I made this bioplastic with cornstarch and vinegar, among other things. My stepmother said that hibiscus gives a nice dark red color when you cook it. I followed this advice, pulverized the hibiscus and added it during cooking. While stirring, the mixture became thicker in my opinion. As soon as I poured it into a mold and let it dry at an open window, I quickly noticed that this mixture took much longer to actually dry.
I used the same baking tin as before as a mold. Small, rectangular, flexible and flat.
result
Unfortunately, this mixture failed. After 4 days it didn't dry. So I made a new one with cornstarch and found the mistake. See number 7.
5 - Gelatine foam with poppy seeds
Ingredients Glycerin - 15 g Water - 60 ml Gelatine - 45 g Dish soap - 6 ml Poppy seeds
With the stuff and ingredients I have, I want to make all the recipes that I can. Now only 1 remains. The gelatin foam bioplastic.
When preparing all the ingredients, I noticed that a lot of gelatin was needed compared to the bioplastic based on gelatin I made before (almost 4 times as much). I also saw that there was ml instead of grams. Maybe this was a typo, but I kept the grams.
I found poppy seeds in my spice cabinet. This could give a weird structure to the bioplastic so I decided to throw this into the mixture.
I used a glass jar with a low rim as a mold. When I threw in the mixture, I realized that it might be difficult to take it out when it dries up. According to the cookbook, 15 grams of glycerine is slightly more brittle than flexible.
Result
6 - Agar Agar with paprika spices
Ingredients 1,6 g - Agar 40 ml - Water 1,4 g - Glycerine
With 5 different mixtures of bioplastics, I should have had enough. Still I found a nice bowl with interesting shapes in it. Then I decided to make 1 more mixture of agar agar. I gave it a color by means of paprika powder.
Unlike the other agar agar mixture, this is made with water instead of mandarin juice. It also contains about 3 times less glycerine, so the end result must be a lot more brittle.
Result
7 - Cornstarch with pure cocoa powder
Ingredients Glycerin - 5 g Water - 80 ml Cornstarch - 1,6 g White vinegar - 15 ml Cocoa powder - 5 g
Didn't work out well. The structure was better than the other cornstarch but still very fragile and sticky. After a week drying, it broke.
Material properties
I chose 3 materials that worked out the best and which I think will have the best results to become a mold or be the result of the mold in the mold. These materials I tested on different properties based on the examples at the website of Material District.
Gelatine foam with poppy seeds
This one is quite firm but also flexible from texture. I think this could be a good mold. The thin variant is a little more glossy. Also, you can look a little through it. They are both quite strong in structure. It would not easily break.
I think the poppy seeds don't necessarily have added value. You do feel them. The thicker variant, you can see that the poppy seeds have fallen down. This has a nice effect for the look of it.
Sensorial properties
No
Medium
Yes
Glossyness
/
Translucence
10%
Structure
Closed
Texture
Flexible
Hardness
/
Temperature
Normal
Acoustics
/
Odour
/
Technical properties
No
Medium
Yes
Fire resistance
/
UV resistance
?
Weather resistance
/
Scratch resistance
/
Weight
/
Chemical resistance
?
Renewable
/
Measuring the fire and water restistance
The gelatin foam slowly turns black and brown when it comes into contact with fire. You can see that the material will bubble and swell a little.
I measured the water resistance by placing the materials in boiling water for a few minutes. I immediately noticed that the agar agar (will be described below) immediately sank to the bottom and that the gelatin foam floated.
After a few minutes I wanted to remove the gelatin foam from the hot water. It disintegrated and melted.
Agar agar cooked with mandarine juice
This material is more flexible and elastic than the gelatin foam with sesame seeds. The gelatin foam with sesame seeds is also harder in texture than this one. Below is an overview of the material properties of this bioplastic.
Sensorial properties
No
Medium
Yes
Glossyness
/
Translucence
40%
Structure
Closed
Texture
Very flexible
Hardness
/
Temperature
Cold
Acoustics
/
Odour
/
Technical properties
No
Medium
Yes
Fire resistance
/
UV resistance
?
Weather resistance
/
Scratch resistance
/
Weight
/
Chemical resistance
?
Renewable
/
Measuring the fire and water restistance
As you can see the material curls when it comes into contact with fire. You also see that, compared to the gelatin foam, the material becomes less black.
When I took the agar agar out of the water, nothing had changed in the structure and shape.
Experiental toolkit
Gelatine foam with poppy seeds
Below the toolkit filled in with my sister's opinion.
Mandarine juice agar agar
Below the toolkit filled in with my sister's opinion.
General conclusion assignment 2 and 3
The gelatin foam with poppy seeds has a funny structure caused by the poppy seeds. However, it is not very flexible compared to the mandarin agar agar. The mandarin agar agar also has a plus that it is waterproof. Both cannot withstand fire.
The mandarin agar agar feels nicer in the hand and it is actually played with immediately by the test person. This is not the case with the gelatin foam with poppy seeds. This is only felt briefly after which the test person has already seen it.
Future applications
I thought it would be fun for future applications to do something with the waterproof agar agar with mandarin. Because it is waterproof, this material is unique from the others. I made a moodboard to make an overview of the possibilities. The material is very flexible, sturdy and waterproof.
Rainboots are also quite flexible and here it is also important that the material is waterproof. It is necessary, however, that the material is sturdy. By using less glyceryne you would get a perfect material for rainboots.
I also found the dishwashing gloves a good future application. I tested the material on boiling water. The material could withstand this. When washing dishes you also have to deal with hot water so I think this is a good material for this.
Only thing about dishwashing gloves are that fewer and fewer people are doing the dishes by hand.
You can also make flexible water shoes. I think this is the best future application for what I found. It fits the material perfectly. Waterproof, sturdy and unique.
And for bags, you can basicly make this from every plastic. Only if you really want a waterproof sturdy one, this material will fit good.
I don't know if the agar agar mandarine material can be put in the oven, although it can withstand boiling water. That is why I'm not sure about the baking tins yet.
Zine
Circular systems
We live in a circular system that needs more attention to add another circular system with it. By the first circular system I mean the mass production. We live in an overcrowded, growing, western world what causes a mass production. Nowadays what comes with this is that products become cheap and people throw things away faster. When people throw away things faster, they support the mass production. This circle needs another circle what we call recycling. From recycled products, we can make biodegrable products what will make another circular system.
This week we also started making biodegradable material within the Makerslab: Bioplastic. Bioplastic is made from completely natural products. Because the material has the unique property of neutralizing CO2, savings are made on fossil raw materials. Composability is an additional property of certain types of bioplastics. This property can add value at the end of a product's life.
What is also nice about making bioplastic is that everyone can do it from their own kitchen. The ingredients are non-toxic, the cooking takes no more than 10 minutes and it should only dry for a few days. It doesn't get easier than this.
Reflection
I really liked doing this assignment. It was the first time I made bioplastics and I really enjoyed it. It was interesting to see how some products and materials succeeded and failed. Cooking was fairly easy to do if you had a good, precise scale.
I was very curious to make more bioplastics, especially from agar agar, because I wanted to continue with this to see what works to make the material waterproof.
I had recently made one with lemon and malic acid. I poured this into the mold that I made with the 3D printer, but the amount of the mixture was too little, so it didn't really work. After that, I ran out of agar agar. I stopped and I gave my time to all other assignments that I still had to finish. In my spare time I would like to go to buy some agar agar and try to make sure it works because I'm still curious.
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