While working on his PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Abhinav Rao helped create a new material that is both tough and strong. Then, as an enineer at Lam Research in Eaton, Ohio, he decided to „look what nature has to teach us“ which inspired him to create this material.
It’s about toothpick-like crystals called celullose nanocrystals. Scientists explain that all plants contain tiny, toothpick-like crystals in the walls of their cells what gives plants their structure and strength. How to get strong material from it? “We’re breaking trees down into their smallest components,” explains Emily Cranston, a wood scientist in Canada at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
Now, when they discovered how, they are going to use cellulose nanocrystals and make more acceptable materials for later decomposition in nature. Since cellulose nanocrystals come from trees, they are “greener” than plastic or most other synthetic materials.
„We will always need materials with certain properties, such as strength, toughness or durability. But there’s another property to think about, too - kindness to the planet,“ says Rao. They also explain that it might be possible to get the crystal toothpicks from algae or even bacteria. Apart from the degradation problem, plastic comes from fossil fuels. On the other hand, the cellulose bits are a nearly endless renewable resource.