Transparent, Biodegradable Plastic Could Be Made from Rice

Starch is a brittle polymer that is rich in grains such as maize, wheat, and rice. Through gelatisation, starch can be treated with heat and water making it suitable for traditional plastic processing techniques. However, films prepared by this method tend to brittle easily due to the rapid recrystalization and degradation. According to this article and the original published paper, researchers in Finland have worked out a creative solution to this problem. “They used a star-shaped molecule called AEEP (aminoethoxy ethanol substituted phosphazene), the arms of which act as dynamic and mobile hydrogen bonding plasticizer molecules while being connected to a central core, effectively preventing migration and leeching of the starch molecules from the resulting plastic.” The result is a clear, biodegradable plastic made from simple and sustainable resources which has the potential applications in food packaging and biomedical materials.