Many of us hate plastic because its manufacturing requires oil and produces dioxins, and because its biodegradability is very poor and releases harmful compounds into the environment such as Bisphenol A (BPA) and polystyrene. Yet many of us can’t easily live without it: while replacing grocery plastic bags with reusable cloth ones isn’t difficult, replacing a car’s or computer’s plastic components is a very different story. However, a new discovery might make the latter option soon a reality: clay- based hydrogels.

 

What's A Clay Hydrogel?

Scientists at the University of Tokyo, Japan, have found a way to create a transparent material made of clay, water and a very small proportion of organic components (which are still petroleum-based but much less so than regular plastic). This new material is a hydrogel which, like plastic, can be molded into shape-persistent, free-standing objects and which can also self-heal when damaged.

An Organic Alternative to Plastic?

Hydrogels are not new: they have been used already for cell tissue cultures and in prosthetics, for example, but conventional hydrogels lack the ability to self-heal and are brittle. The presence of clay as well as tiny amounts of an organic binder makes this new hydrogel one step closer to manufacturing environmentally friendly substitutes for conventional petroleum-based plastics.

What remains to be seen, though, is when the substitution will actually take place. Another potential issue is the cost: if clay-based hydrogels can’t be as cheap as plastic, replacing the 150 year-old environmental and health offender will be a real challenge.

To find out more about the scientists’ research and findings, go to Nature, International Weekly Journal of Science.