Self-directed Project
The project I wanted to do was to hard to do 2,5 weeks. I want to grow algae and make a product out of it. Algae needs some time to grow so it was 2,5 weeks was to short on time to growing and also drying it. This is the reason why I together with Melissa made bioplastics. Bio plastic is an interest of mine. In our study we learn we have to be make product who are not harmful for the environment and recyclable afterwards. We learn about all the plastics and their properties and uses. Never have we ever talked about bioplastic. This is a shame! So time to redeem some knowledge and make bioplastics!
We started of with a mini workshop with Shirley. She shared some useful knowledge like to scope the foam of the liquid to get a clear result. Also some nice books to look at for receipts. The book under here we ended up using the most.
It is really easy to mix a colour though the mixture when you making it. When you do this you have to do less water because the colours we used are liquid. You can also harden the material in a shape and it will stay in this shape. Or push something in it, we pushed bubble wrap in it and removed it afterwards to get a texture. The blue on above here has aluminum in it this will make the material stronger.
We tried to laser cut and engrave the material. When we went to do this we discovered someone who also is working on bioplastics. We asked her for laser cutting settings and we tweaked the setting a bit afterwards. Laser Cutting looks good but the engraving looks burned and gets deformed because the materials melts.
In one day we did 6 different recept.
- 2 gelatine (with different levels of glycerine)
- agar agar
- corn starch
- potato starch
- taartina (starch)
Every recept has glycerine, this will make sure that material is flexible and wouldn't break and be brittle. Also all the recept have water this is to dissolve all the particles and make a monogeen material. The starch recipes have vinegar in them this helps make flexible bonds.
Potato starch
Agar agar
Gelatine
Taartina
The starch were a bit tricky they harden in an instant. You can't pour it, this will make the surface not smooth. In the end we want to make a bag which is transparent. Only the gelatine turned out to be transparent.
After drying all of the samples looked different. Some never dried (corn) and some changed in colour(agar). The potato one broke. The gelatine stayed the best in shape and stayed clear.
In the end we going to make a bag out of the material. Why a bag? When you think of plastic and pollution you think of a bottle or a bag. This icon of pollution we wanted to change in a biodegradable bag which is also nice to see.

After consulting with Neza (fashion designer) She thought is was possible to sew the material. She advised to use bias tape to cover up any sewing mistakes and making the bag stronger.

Making the big sheets was a lot of work. cooking the gelatine, glycerin and water solution took at leased an hour of stirring, heating and scooping the foam of to clear the solution. After all this work pouring the material in the mold it came up super uneven (it hardens fast).
bias tape
sewing test
Making the handle
Material kept sticking together so made a bag out of backing paper to put inside while working
Also one for the machine