Biobased Plastic Flexes Its Muscle


Washington - Electroactive polymers--plastics that
expand or contract when stimulated by electricity--can
now be made from plants rather than petrochemicals,
according to Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
scientists in Peoria, Ill.



There is now significant interest in the possible use
of electroactive polymers in many industrial and
biomedical applications, from light-emitting diodes
and controlled-release devices to artificial muscles
and environmental sensors. The material is typically
petroleum-based, but ARS researchers Victoria Finkenstadt
and J.L. Willett showed that plant polysaccharides
like starch can work just as well.



Use of the polysaccharides in certain types of conductive
polymers could leapfrog some of the pitfalls associated
with using petroleum feedstocks, such as U.S. reliance
on foreign suppliers, according to Finkenstadt, a chemist,
and Willett, a supervisory chemical engineer with ARS'
National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in
Peoria.

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