This plastic wrap is edible! New environmentally friendly seaweed wrap to learn about

Plastic, is the result of industrial civilization, it brings convenience to human beings at the same time also brought endless trouble and disaster. At present, the plastic cling film on the market can not be degraded, if they are buried in the soil, the plasticizer in the plastic will penetrate into the soil and water, and eventually enter the human body with water and plants, while plastic molecules can also enter the human body, causing harm to the human body.

In fact, the reputation and infamy of plastics are derived from its special physical and chemical properties. Simply put, due to the structural problems of the plastic material itself is not easy to be degraded by natural microorganisms, so it is made into plastic bags, plastic wrap and other products, can show good sealing and durability, plus itself is very lightweight, can be said to take into account portability and practicality. But at the same time, because the nature is too stable, it is difficult for conventional treatment methods to decompose plastic waste, and many plastics will produce harmful substances and microplastics in the process of decomposition, these "dirty things" will directly damage the environment, and with the ecosystem to harm animals and plants, and eventually will harm human health. And this also directly leads to even in the implementation of the plastic ban today, we still can not completely leave the convenience of plastic, but also have to face the trouble and disaster it brings.

Recently, the British "New Scientist" weekly reported that the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom Kellan Ward team in the field of seaweed cling film research results.
Every year, people consume a lot of plastic wrap, such as to wrap produce or baked goods. Most plastic wrap ends up as garbage, either because it requires specialized recycling equipment to be recycled, or it is not recyclable at all. Some biodegradable plastics do exist, but breaking them down can take months or even years. So Kellan Ward of the University of Leeds, UK, and his colleagues wanted to create a thin-film plastic that could easily degrade.

The raw material they use is a brown algae called sargassum. This algae contains chain-like molecules that are similar to those that make up traditional plastics, making it a good raw material. The researchers mixed the algae with some acids and salts to get a solution full of these molecules, and then mixed the solution with chemicals to make it stickier and more pliable.

The team made the processed solution into a film and then tested the effect of the film on heat and when thrown into a compost bin. The biofilm can withstand temperatures of 230 degrees Celsius, and after being thrown into a household compost bin, more than 90 percent of the film will degrade in less than three weeks.

Ward said that if placed in an industrial degradation facility, the degradation process of these films would take only 11 days.

In addition, the researchers said that after 10 days in water, the film did not release any chemicals. This means that it can be safely used to wrap wet foods such as freshly cut fruit. However, more tests are needed to see if the film can be used for longer food packaging, such as packaging sweets that need to be stored for months.

And in fact, this is not a unique case of seaweed modeling. In fact, China has also carried out innovative research on seaweed cling film, and has long been committed to the study of harmful seaweed biomass utilization. The research team led by Xu Jiachao invented the patented edible full biodegradable seaweed food cling film. Compared with traditional plastic wrap, the biggest advantage of this plastic wrap is high safety, no plasticizers, no carcinogens, can achieve 100% biodegradation within 6-12 months, and will not cause pollution to the environment.

Like all degradable materials, the high cost is one of the bottlenecks restricting the development of seaweed cling film. In addition, the difficulty in the development of seaweed cling film is that this kind of cling film is relatively thick, and the ductility and toughness need to be improved. At the same time, the production machinery and production lines required for the industrialization of seaweed cling film are not yet perfect.