{"id":100678,"date":"2021-11-17T07:38:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-17T06:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=100678"},"modified":"2021-11-13T12:19:28","modified_gmt":"2021-11-13T11:19:28","slug":"sustainable-biodegradable-glitter-from-your-fruit-bowl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/sustainable-biodegradable-glitter-from-your-fruit-bowl\/","title":{"rendered":"Sustainable, biodegradable glitter \u2013 from your fruit bowl"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Cambridge researchers have developed a sustainable, plastic-free glitter for use in the cosmetics industry \u2013 made from the cellulose found in plants, fruits, vegetables and wood pulp.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glitter is the bane of every parent and primary school teacher. But beyond its general annoyance factor, it\u2019s also made of toxic and unsustainable materials, and contributes to plastic pollution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Now, researchers from the University of Cambridge have found a way to make sustainable, non-toxic, vegan, and biodegradable glitter from cellulose \u2013 the main building block of cell walls in plants, fruits and vegetables \u2013 and it\u2019s just as sparkly as the original.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The glitter is made from cellulose nanocrystals, which can bend light in such a way to create vivid colours through a process called structural colour. The same phenomenon produces some of the brightest colours in nature \u2013 such as those of butterfly wings and peacock feathers \u2013 and results in hues that do not fade, even after a century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using self-assembly techniques that allow the cellulose to produce intensely-coloured films, the researchers say their materials could be used to replace the plastic glitter particles and tiny mineral effect pigments which are widely used in cosmetics. In Europe, the cosmetics industry uses about 5,500 tonnes of microplastics every year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The films of cellulose nanocrystals prepared by the team can be made at scale using roll-to-roll processes like those used to make paper from wood pulp. This is the first time these materials have been fabricated at industrial scale. The results are reported in the journal Nature Materials<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cConventional pigments, like your everyday glitter, are not produced sustainably,\u201d said Professor Silvia Vignolini from Cambridge\u2019s Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, the paper\u2019s senior author. \u201cThey get into the soil, the ocean and contribute to an overall level of pollution. Consumers are starting to realise that while glitters are fun, they also have real environmental harms.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

For many years, Vignolini\u2019s research group has been extracting cellulose from wood pulp and transforming it into shiny, colourful materials, which could be used to replace toxic pigments used in numerous consumer products, such as paints and cosmetics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe challenge has been how to control conditions so that we can manage all the physical-chemical interactions simultaneously, from the nanoscale up to several metres, so that we can produce these materials at scale,\u201d said first author Benjamin Droguet, also from Cambridge\u2019s Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

By carefully optimising the cellulose solution and the coating parameters, the research team was able to fully control the self-assembly process, so that the material could be made on a roll-to-roll machine. Their process is compatible with existing industrial-scale machines. Using commercially available cellulose materials transformed into suitable liquid suspension in just few steps, the team showed continuous deposition and drying of the cellulose-containing suspension on a commercial roll-to-roll machine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After producing the large-scale cellulose films, the researchers ground them into particles of the size used for making glitters or effect pigments. The resulting particles are biodegradable, plastic-free and non-toxic. The demonstration of the fabrication process on commercial equipment is an important step towards making the new material available outside the lab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, the process is far less energy-intensive than conventional methods. When they do not use synthetic polymers, companies often use mica and titanium dioxide combined into an effect pigment. However, titanium dioxide has recently been banned in the EU for food application due to its potential carcinogenic effects, while the extraction of mica often takes place in developing countries that may rely on exploitative practices, including child labour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTraditionally, effect pigment minerals have to be heated at temperatures as high as 800\u00b0C to form pigment particles. When you consider the quantity of mineral effect pigments that is produced worldwide, you realise that their use is harmful to the planet,\u201d said Droguet.<\/p>

\u201cWe believe this product could revolutionise the cosmetics industry by providing a fully sustainable, biodegradable and vegan pigment and glitter,\u201d said Vignolini.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Although further optimisation of the process is still needed, the researchers are hoping to form a spin-out company to make their pigments and glitters commercially available in the coming years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But will their glitter be as annoying as conventional glitter to anyone who\u2019s ever done a craft project with small children?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt will be just as annoying \u2013 but it won\u2019t harm the planet and is safe for your little ones,\u201d said Vignolini.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The research was funded in part by the European Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reference<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Benjamin E. Droguet et al. \u2018Large-scale fabrication of structurally coloured cellulose nanocrystal films and effect pigments.\u2019 Nature Materials<\/em> (2021). DOI: 10.1038\/s41563-021-01135-8<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cambridge researchers have developed a sustainable, plastic-free glitter for use in the cosmetics industry \u2013 made from the cellulose found in plants, fruits, vegetables and wood pulp. Glitter is the bane of every parent and primary school teacher. But beyond its general annoyance factor, it\u2019s also made of toxic and unsustainable materials, and contributes to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"Plant-based biodegradable glitter sparkles without the microplastics","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[11270,5838,5847,6162],"supplier":[5159,7921,1311],"class_list":["post-100678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-biodegradability","tag-bioeconomy","tag-bioplastics","tag-cellulose","supplier-engineering-and-physical-sciences-research-council-epsrc","supplier-european-research-council","supplier-university-of-cambridge-uk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100678\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100678"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=100678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}