{"608062":{"#nid":"608062","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Crab shells, tree fibers may be sustainable alternative to plastics","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFrom liquid laundry detergent packaged in cardboard to compostable plastic cups, consumer products these days are increasingly touting their sustainable and renewable origins.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENow researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology have created a material derived from crab shells and tree fibers that has the potential to replace the flexible plastic packaging used to keep food fresh.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe new material, which is described July 23 in the journal \u003Cem\u003EACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering,\u003C\/em\u003E is made by spraying multiple layers of chitin from crab shells and cellulose from trees to form a flexible film similar to plastic packaging film.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The main benchmark that we compare it to is PET, or polyethylene terephthalate, one of the most common petroleum-based materials in the transparent packaging you see in vending machines and soft drink bottles,\u0026rdquo; said J. Carson Meredith, a professor in Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. \u0026ldquo;Our material showed up to a 67 percent reduction in oxygen permeability over some forms of PET, which means it could in theory keep foods fresher longer.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/2018\/07\/23\/material-formed-crab-shells-and-trees-could-replace-flexible-plastic-packaging\u0022\u003ERead the entire article here\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Professor Carson Meredith and team are featured in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering"}],"uid":"28159","created_gmt":"2018-07-25 16:31:53","changed_gmt":"2018-07-25 16:31:53","author":"Kelly Smith","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-07-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-07-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"608016":{"id":"608016","type":"image","title":"J. Carson Meredith","body":null,"created":"1532371652","gmt_created":"2018-07-23 18:47:32","changed":"1532371652","gmt_changed":"2018-07-23 18:47:32","alt":"","file":{"fid":"231907","name":"N18C10200-P36-007.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/N18C10200-P36-007.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/N18C10200-P36-007.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1386441,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/N18C10200-P36-007.jpg?itok=Rkfgg1tV"}}},"media_ids":["608016"],"groups":[{"id":"372221","name":"Renewable Bioproducts Institute (RBI)"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39491","name":"Renewable Bioproducts"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EKelly B. Smith, kelly.smith@gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["kelly.smith@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}