# Bioplastics

## Making my own bioplastics

**Make your own bioplastics. Try various recipes, add other materials, play with textures and use your mold. Document your process and findings. (Bron: Brightspace)**

I've tried about 6 different recipes. First I wanted to avoid the gelatine because I don't like eating pork. But when I saw that most recipes in the bioplastic cookbook were with gelatine I did made 2 bioplastics with gelatine because I felt like I needed to try different kinds of recipes. When cooking the gelatine it smelled so bad that I really couldn't stand making more bioplastics from gelatine unfortunately.\
\
My molds are digitally finished but I haven't had the time yet to print them out so for now I've just used my petri dished.

For the recipes I've used the [Bioplastics Cookbook by Margaret Dunne.](https://issuu.com/nat_arc/docs/bioplastic_cook_book_3)

## 1. Agar Agar - plant based  bioplastic

### Recipe

For this recipe I used:

* 2.7 g glycerine
* 40 ml water
* 1.6 g agar
* Tulip flower & leaf

I had to make this 4 times to fill up the petri dish enough for the tulip flower. So I actually used this amount of ingredients but then x4 

1. The first thing I did (with every recipe) was greasing the petri dish with vaseline so that the plastic would come off easier after 24 hours when it hardend.

![Greasing petri dish, bioplastics, Dusanka, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M36ecrbAmGIuIgevPO2%2F-M36fygIfI8pxI8VAznD%2FWhatsApp%20Image%202020-03-23%20at%2013.44.56.jpeg?alt=media\&token=52dca2f1-83bd-44e5-9d2a-ef3c3e3f6c56)

2\. Secondly, I poured about 2.7g glycerin into a pot.

![2.7 g glycerin, Dusanka, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M36ecrbAmGIuIgevPO2%2F-M36hTC6ydDDsDr6myDa%2FSchermafbeelding%202020-03-23%20om%2015.04.44.png?alt=media\&token=d124fb76-ae9f-4010-a625-b5b5286c4b94)

3\. Unfortunately I didn't have an electric scale so I just guessed that in this teaspoon was about 1.6g Agar

![+- 1.6g Agar, Dusanka, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M36ecrbAmGIuIgevPO2%2F-M36hdWQwbjJx4MgVXgI%2FWhatsApp%20Image%202020-03-23%20at%2013.45.00.jpeg?alt=media\&token=a5064e38-e329-4aaf-8937-2e6a01750b31)

4\. I added 40ml of water and started cooking at about medium high heat which was 5 on my electric cooking stove.

![cooking the ingredients, Dusanka, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M36ecrbAmGIuIgevPO2%2F-M36ihLzrKUpE2sG7DSa%2Fezgif.com-video-to-gif%20\(4\).gif?alt=media\&token=6fe3cf6d-0ce3-4e51-a6a2-35c57ff09018)

5\. Beforehand I filled up a petri dish with some tulip leaves and green flower spikes. When the ingredients in the pot became a bit viscous I poured it into the petri dish as quick as possible before it dried. \
\
I had to repeat step 1-5, 4 times before the tulip was mostly underneath the liquid:

![Petri filled with tulips, Dusanka, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M36ecrbAmGIuIgevPO2%2F-M36jpJYEdEWP990egJu%2FWhatsApp%20Image%202020-03-23%20at%2013.45.02%20\(1\).jpeg?alt=media\&token=0e04e4aa-3603-48ac-b617-5f4d8f28f435)

### **After 24 hours**

It got very fragile and it was still a bit wet, maybe because I put the entire petri dish in my garden and it was a bit moist outside. It broke a bit when I tried to take it out.

![Tulip bioplastic after 24 hours, Dusanka, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M3BKYtbHcAD-SJYUqJU%2F-M3BLJ9JRiEy0PduJIc-%2FSchermafbeelding%202020-03-24%20om%2012.41.13.png?alt=media\&token=3b5e9381-498b-41e2-a3c9-083cbaf9bbfa)

![Tulip bioplastic after 24 hours, Dusanka, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M3C-E_Rd_S1PRvutGrm%2F-M3C11Wab2Dx7dO1GoqS%2Fezgif.com-video-to-gif%20\(5\).gif?alt=media\&token=838de9cc-5138-4479-a969-54be5d24d43b)

### Video

[**Watch a video of the bioplastic here to get a better experience of it.** ](https://youtu.be/W4mVlryATHQ)

## 2. Agar Agar Foam - plant based bioplastic with soap

### Recipe

For this recipe I've used:

* 2.7 g glycerin
* 40 ml  water
* 1.6 g agar
* 6 ml soap
* Tea spoon of kurkuma
* 20ml of blue Listerine

I also repeated this proces 2 times to have enough to get the petri dish filled. I just forgot to pour in the soap the first time.

Beforehand I filled up a petri dish again with what I wanted to have in the plastic; a small branch with needles on it.

![Needle branch from nature, Dusanka, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M36ecrbAmGIuIgevPO2%2F-M36lPmN7zpJ7h5QOb4k%2FWhatsApp%20Image%202020-03-23%20at%2013.45.03.jpeg?alt=media\&token=4a3057dc-e760-4216-bf91-a06c92eefabc)

When the ingredients became a bit viscous in the pot I filled up the petri dish. Unfortunately I couldn't get the bubbles out. I poured some of my own natural paint into the petri dish. I did this when I just poured the ingredients into the petri dish and it was still a bit watery. I made blue from Listerine and yellow from kurkuma. I injected this through the open side of the petri dish with some kind of dosage vial.

![Kurkuma paint, Dusanka, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M36ecrbAmGIuIgevPO2%2F-M36m_j6hXqQxkDdF6VK%2FWhatsApp%20Image%202020-03-23%20at%2013.45.07.jpeg?alt=media\&token=a6bddc04-96e8-44f6-a8af-f574f861c80c)

![Plant based biofoam with soap.](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M36ecrbAmGIuIgevPO2%2F-M36mW6CPvamqmpptFDA%2FWhatsApp%20Image%202020-03-23%20at%2013.45.06.jpeg?alt=media\&token=02ae592e-185f-48da-a009-1892161ee307)

### **After 24 hours**

I like the end result a lot, it looks pretty and it feels very firm and durable.

![Plant based bioplastic foam after 24 hours, Dusanka, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M3BKYtbHcAD-SJYUqJU%2F-M3BLzlEvk3yUx8HGGNx%2FWhatsApp%20Image%202020-03-24%20at%2012.36.15%20\(1\).jpeg?alt=media\&token=88c358b3-6c90-45ae-882c-2d74e1ec70ca)

![Plant based bioplastic foam after 24 hours, Dusanka, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M3C-E_Rd_S1PRvutGrm%2F-M3C3dYlKk9Uyejo-Goa%2Fezgif.com-video-to-gif%20\(6\).gif?alt=media\&token=0d50d5c4-8dde-4fa8-8ded-18e865f3fe8d)

### **Video**

[**Watch a video of the bioplastic here to get a better experience of it.** ](https://youtu.be/cCD2x2MYNi8)

## 3. Hard Agar Agar - plant based bioplastic

### Recipe

For this recipe I've used: 

* 1.8 g glycerine
* 40 ml water
* 1.6 g agar

### After 24 hours

II discovered that using less glycerine made the end result a lot less flexible but it gave it a nice glass-like effect. I like this kind of feel of the material way more than the kind of jelly ones.

But when the ingredients became viscous and I wanted to pour it into the petri dish, I was too slow so i couldn't get it in nicely like the shape of the petri dish. But it came out looking like a butterfly, which was pretty cool.

![Hard agar agar, Dusanka, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M36ne_v42RAz-05sQY-%2F-M36pWTORlJwZdw-Qqxs%2FWhatsApp%20Image%202020-03-23%20at%2013.45.10%20\(1\).jpeg?alt=media\&token=028fcbfe-b96b-4d55-a6c0-7e31a38fcd77)

![Hard agar agar, Dusanka, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M3C5dCw3ctlyo9tTdvS%2F-M3C6e05kj2CcafFtuvt%2Fezgif.com-video-to-gif%20\(7\).gif?alt=media\&token=87c8ba63-8dad-4040-a874-534c255ed90a)

### Video

[**Watch a video of the bioplastic here to get a better experience of it.**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e94VRfohPHw\&feature=youtu.be)

## **4. Flexible gelatine foam - animal based bioplastic.**

Like i've mentioned before I didn't enjoy the smell of the cooked gelatine. I think animal based bioplastic is a bit contradictory. Making plastic from animals is not very environment friendly and the whole idea of bioplastics is to make it environment friendly in my opinion.

### Recipe

For the first gelatine recipe I've used:

* 30 g glycerin
* 60 ml water
* 45 g gelatine
* 6 ml soap
* table spoon of kurkuma & sugar

I've used Kurkuma again to give it some color, this time I used more kurkuma than water so it became more bright yellow. I steered into the pot until it became viscous again and then put it into a petri dish.\
\
I forgot to put it outside in the cold so the green stuff you see is mold I think. After this I put it in my garden again and it didn't mold any further after another 24 hours. It's about 3cm thick.

### After 24 hours

After 24 hours it became very jelly-ish and it still smelled very bad because of the gelatine. The foam on the other side was very soft but it was very firm.

![Flexible gelatine back side, Dusanka, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M36sWSRP6cjzyeAlS0_%2F-M3704ZOpOnMY7zA2TbT%2FWhatsApp%20Image%202020-03-23%20at%2016.30.10.jpeg?alt=media\&token=ed5ae80e-b185-4593-9a19-2699b2aa8894)

![Flexible gelatine front side, Dusanka, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M36sWSRP6cjzyeAlS0_%2F-M36zQnHATpxXKFy8vOX%2FWhatsApp%20Image%202020-03-23%20at%2013.46.38.jpeg?alt=media\&token=d35f2366-6197-415e-943d-291760876743)

Weirdly enough only the front side (the side which was against the petri dish) is the only side that is from foam, the other side is just kind of jelly. I think this is because I didn't steer it well enough.

![Flexible gelatine, Dusanka, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M3C5dCw3ctlyo9tTdvS%2F-M3C8AKh2bICRz0pfTzc%2Fezgif.com-video-to-gif%20\(8\).gif?alt=media\&token=13cac653-f03d-4e1c-b106-7f2d18ed48a5)

### Video

[**Watch a video of the bioplastic here to get a better experience of it.**](https://youtu.be/-xOnowX3iEE)

## **5. Firm gelatine foam - animal based**

### **Recipe**

For this recipe I've used about:\
(I'm not sure exactly anymore)

* 1.8 ml glycerin
* 12 g gelatine
* 60 ml water
* table spoon of kurkuma & sugar

### After 24 hours

It looked the same as recipe 4 but just thinner and more rigid. It also had foam on the front side but not on the back side. *This one didn't mold after 24 hours inside the house.* Probably because it had a lot less gelatine in it.

![Firm gelatine bioplastic after 24 hours, Dusanka, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M36sWSRP6cjzyeAlS0_%2F-M3723M_OTWVhzazRepD%2FWhatsApp%20Image%202020-03-23%20at%2016.38.50.jpeg?alt=media\&token=7d7f439f-50ee-4ad7-b10e-8c4fd1dc064c)

![Firm gelatine bioplastic after 24 hours, Dusanka, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M3C5dCw3ctlyo9tTdvS%2F-M3CAYmiGG7JiBjtVrHw%2Fezgif.com-video-to-gif%20\(9\).gif?alt=media\&token=1afbc292-b64d-4d70-bb65-2ba18e4ca22f)

### Video

[**Watch a video of the bioplastic here to get a better experience of it.**](https://youtu.be/zcT0vWHk2hM)

## **6. Fragile agar agar - plant based bioplastic**

### **Recipe**

**For this recipe I've used:**

* 2.7 g glycerine
* 1.6 g agar
* 40 ml water
* dried apples & peers
* muesli
* teaspoon of honey

This is the honey I used:

![used honey, Dusanka, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M3BKYtbHcAD-SJYUqJU%2F-M3BNW3LBPETTzeMdJ2G%2FWhatsApp%20Image%202020-03-24%20at%2012.51.05.jpeg?alt=media\&token=38e21578-51cb-4891-9e05-9288388e40d8)

![Filled up petri dish, Dusanka, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M3BKYtbHcAD-SJYUqJU%2F-M3BNcjBXEETATesPvo3%2FWhatsApp%20Image%202020-03-24%20at%2012.51.06%20\(1\).jpeg?alt=media\&token=801c7bd4-52c8-40fc-b400-c60836f43e6d)

### After 24 hours

After 24 hours I took the material out of the petri dish and it looked very breakable, I didn't expect this to happen because I filled it up with a lot of hard stuff like the muesli and dried apples and peers. It did smell very nice and it felt very heavy.

![Dried apples & peers bioplastic after 24 hours, Dusanka, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M3BKYtbHcAD-SJYUqJU%2F-M3BNys9LbxYPZU78Tcr%2FWhatsApp%20Image%202020-03-24%20at%2012.36.16.jpeg?alt=media\&token=4896c1db-4c49-4ea6-889f-894e1a6583c7)

![Dried apples & peers bioplastic after 24 hours, Dusanka, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M3C5dCw3ctlyo9tTdvS%2F-M3CC7z_NBAJS_TKFJRX%2Fezgif.com-video-to-gif%20\(10\).gif?alt=media\&token=7be519fc-9492-4dc1-ba62-762cc7f822f0)

### Video:

[**Watch a video of the bioplastic here to get a better experience of it.**](https://youtu.be/OrdMf0R6esc)