Como hacer BioPlstico:

Se denomina bioplstico (acetato de celulosa) a un tipo de plsticos derivados de productos vegetales, tales como el aceite de soja o el maz, a diferencia de los plsticos convencionales, derivados del petrleo. Los plsticos tradicionales (polietileno, polipropileno, abs, pet, entre otros) estn sintetizados a partir del petrleo por la industria petroqumica. La caresta de este combustible fsil, su carcter de resistencia a la degradacin natural y el hecho de que es una fuente que, tarde o temprano, acabar por agotarse, ha llevado a algunas partes de la industria a buscar alternativas. El cido polilctico, sintetizado a partir del maz, es una de las ms prometedoras.

Para esto van a necesitar: -Agua (4 cucharadas) -Almidn de maz (tambin conocido como Maizena) (una cucharada) -Vinagre (una cucharadita) -Glicerina (lo consegus en una farmacia)(una cucharadita)

HOW TO: make algae bioplastic Student's Corner Written by Greg Stevens Thursday, 02 September 2010 07:41 Our recent news article about algae as a source for bioplastic has received a lot of attention. But there is something very important that it didn't tell you:

You can make your own bioplastic from algae. And we will give you step-by-step instructions on how to do it.

It's a fun little science project. You can do it in your kitchen, with stuff you buy at the grocery

store. And you can see what "algae bioplastic" really looks and feels like... First, a little background. You might not have known this, but when people talk about "seaweed" they are actually talking about a form of algae. That is what we are talking about in the context of bioplastics: red algae, also known as "red seaweed." The specific chemical that we are interested in is agar, which appears in red seaweed in abundance. When you hear Cereplast and other companies talk about developing bioplastic made from seaweed, they really mean that they will be using the chemical agar, which is extracted from the seaweed. Fortunately (or unfortunately?) this project won't have you traipsing out to the ocean to collect seaweed. Agar is used as a food additive in confectionaries, desserts, beverages, icecream and health foods. It's also used as a non-food additive in toothpaste, cosmetics, and adhesives. It's not that difficult to get: if you can't find it at the grocery store, you can Google "buy agar" and you get plenty of results there. Before we get to the actual recipe for making your very own "algae plastic", you should understand what role agar actually plays. Like all other plastics, bioplastics are composed of three basic parts: one or more polymers, one or more plasticizers, plus one or more additives. Roughly speaking: polymers give plastic its strength, plasticizers give it its bendable and mouldable qualities, and additives give it other properties (color, durability, etc). Agar is a biopolymer. From the Green Plastics book: Agar, either by itself or in blends with other biopolymers, appears to impart favorable properties to plastic sheets. In plastics containing agar and glycerol (a plasticizer), the effectiveness of the glycerol lasts longer, because the agar seems to slow down the increase in brittleness. Agar also seems to improve resistence to microwave radiation, and it improves clarity in sorbitol formulations. Agar is more expensive than starch, which limits its large-scale use. Are you ready to try this? You basic procedure for making the bioplastic will be the same as described Brandon's Remix video. The main difference will be in the actual ingredients and proportions. Here are some suggestions you can try. Each of the following combinations will produce slightly different plastics with different properties. Agar Only 3.0 g (1 tsp) agar 240 ml (1 cup) of 1% glycerol solution 180 ml (3/4 cup) water Agar-Starch Blend 1.5 g (1/2 tsp) sorbitol 3.0 g (1 tsp) starch 3.0 g (1 tsp) agar 240 ml (1 cup) of 1% glycerol solution

300 ml (1 1/4 cup) water 0.75 g (1/2 tsp) agar 120 ml (1/2 cup) of 1% glycerol solution Gelatin-Agar Blend 2.25 g (3/4 cup) sorbitol 2.25 g (3/4 cup) gelatin 2.25 g (3/4 cup) agar 180 ml (3/4 cup) of 1% glycerol solution 240 ml (1 cup) water Procedure The procedure is basically the same in every case. Mix all of the ingredients together in the amounts above, and stir. Keep mixing until there are no clumps and it is as dispersed as it's gong to get. Then heat the mixture to 95 C or to when it starts to froth (whichever comes first). Stir the mixture while you are heating it, and once it is at the right temperature (or starts to froth), remove the heat and keep stirring. Scoop out excess froth with a spoon, and make sure there are no clumps. Carefully pour the mixture into a drying pan, and make sure to spread it out to let it dry. How long it takes will depend on the temperature and humidity in the room, and it may take several days (depending on your formulation). You won't be able to remove the plastic from the drying sheet easily until it is completely dry, so be patient! If your first batch turns out too sticky or slimy, you can try it again with slightly less plasticizer. Remember, the above recipes are just starting points.... have fun trying different proportions and combinations, and see what kinds of plastic it makes! Happy experimenting. (For many more recipes like these, and a lot of good information about the background and science of bioplastics, get the Green Plastics book.)

Q&A: Home-made bioplastic sword! Student's Corner Written by kyleman199O Sunday, 21 November 2010 13:27 Hello greenplastisnet,

I am looking for a ratio of ingredients for a durable plastic that Is not as flexible, but still, wont break when I hit something with it. Would I use no Glycerin at all? or do you need at least some Glycerin for it to work? I am experimenting different materials for a cheap plastic katana.

RESPONSE FROM GREEN-PLASTICS.NET: This sounds like a fun project, but I will tell you from the outset... getting the right formulation for a katana will probably take some time, trial and error! Your best bet will be to use a gelatin-glycerol bioplastic with a very low level of glycerol. This produces a hard, inflexible plastic that is good for creating solid objects. I've made buttons and coasters and ornaments before, but never anything as large as a plastic sword. It shouldn't be too brittle, but you may want to try adjusting the amounts a little bit over several trials: remember that less glycerol means it is more brittle. We have posted the formulation for this kind of plastic before, but in case you missed it: Combine 3.0 grams (1/2 tsp) glycerol and 12.0 g gelatin (4 tsp) with 60 ml (1/4 cup) hot water. Depending on how large the sword is, you may need to increase these amounts. Just remember to keep them in the same proportions (i.e. either double everything, or quadruple everything, etc). Mix all of the ingredients together in the amounts above, and stir. Keep mixing until there are no clumps and it is as dispersed as it's going to get. Then heat the mixture to 95 C or to when it starts to froth (whichever comes first). Stir the mixture while you are heating it, and once it is at the right temperature (or starts to froth), remove the heat and keep stirring. Scoop out excess froth with a spoon, and make sure there are no clumps. You will want to carefully pour the mixture directly into the mold that you are using to create the shape of the sword. I assume you have already created a mold. If not, then of course that step has to come first! How long it takes to dry will depend on the temperature and humidity in the room, and how thick the final product is. It may take several days, and sometimes people find that it helps to blow it with a blow-dryer for a period of time. If your first batch turns out too sticky or slimy, you can try it again with slightly less plasticizer. One final comment: We assume that the plastic sword is meant for all fun and games and that you don't intend to do any harm with it. But please remember: just because it's bioplastic doesn't mean it won't hurt! You can absolutely hurt yourself or others, even if you are just playing around, by whacking eachother with plastic swords. So please be very careful. The plastic formulation describe here is solid and hard: you may want to wrap your final product with padding, if you intend to use it in "mock combat."

Good luck! Let us know how it turns out.

Dear Green Plastics, Is there anything we can substitute for glycerin? See, my group in school is building a parachute to hold an egg safely to ground... and we get parked up for making plastic. however we have to use materials from da vinci's time... so is there any alternative to glycerin that was around in da vinci's time? thanks!

RESPONSE FROM GREEN-PLASTICS.NET: Hello! Thank you for your question, and it sounds like an interesting challenge for your project. Leonardo da Vinci was alive in the late 1400's and early 1500's. Technology was fairly simple back then, but they did make soap! This is important for you, because glycerol is actually a by-product of soap-making. For a somewhat technical discussion of this relationship, check out the Wikipedia article on Soap. The basic idea is that you take some kind of oil and mix it with a chemical called lye (both of these have been around for centuries), and the chemical reaction that results (called saponification) converts the triglycerides in the fat into fatty acid salt and glycerol. I don't recommend that you actually try to make your own glycerol with this process. Lye is very toxic and the whole thing can be quite messy. However, I would recommend you approach your teacher and ask whether you can use store-bought glycerol, since chemically it is the same substance that could easily be found in the 1400's as a by-product of soap-making. Then, I would recommend that you make your bioplastic using gelatin as the polymer and glycerol as the plasticizer. Gelatin is actually easier to work with than starch and will produce some nice, strong pieces of solid plastic. In da Vinci's time, they would get gelatin by boiling pigs' feet for several hours. (Again, instead of boiling pigs feet, I would suggest buying the gelatin from the store.)

What is the actual recipe? Unfortunately, you were a little vague about what you want the plastic to be used for in your device, so I don't really know what kind of plastic you want. I will give you two recipes for a gelatin-glycerol plastic: one will produce a thin flexible sheet that can be folded and cut with scissors, and the other will produce hard solid pieces of plastic that can be molded into buttons or other inflexible solid shapes. THIN SHEET RECIPE Combine 6.0 grams (2 tsp) gelatin with 320 ml (1 1/3 cup) of 1% glycerol solution and 160 ml (2/3 cup) water. THICK SOLID OBJECT RECIPE Combine 3.0 grams (1/2 tsp) glycerol and 12.0 g gelatin (4 tsp) with 60 ml (1/4 cup) hot water. You will notice that the big difference in the recipes is simply the proportions of each part: the thin sheet needs more plasticizer, the hard pieces need much less. For both recipes, mix all of the ingredients together in the amounts above, and stir. Keep mixing until there are no clumps and it is as dispersed as it's going to get. Then heat the mixture to 95 C or to when it starts to froth (whichever comes first). Stir the mixture while you are heating it, and once it is at the right temperature (or starts to froth), remove the heat and keep stirring. Scoop out excess froth with a spoon, and make sure there are no clumps. Carefully pour the mixture into a drying pan, and make sure to spread it out to let it dry. How long it takes will depend on the temperature and humidity in the room, and it may take several days (depending on your formulation). You won't be able to remove the plastic from the drying sheet easily until it is completely dry, so be patient! If your first batch turns out too sticky or slimy, you can try it again with slightly less plasticizer. Finally, one word of caution: These recipes are good for flexible sheets or solid parts, but if you are planning on making a mechanical object with moving parts, you are probably better off using traditional old-fashioned wood. Good luck, and let us know how it turns out!