{"686175":{"#nid":"686175","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Researchers Develop Biobased Film that Could Replace Traditional Plastic Packaging ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPlastic packaging is ubiquitous in our world, with its waste winding up in landfills and polluting oceans, where it can take centuries to degrade.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo ease this environmental burden, industry has worked to adopt renewable biopolymers in place of traditional plastics. However, developers of sustainable packaging have faced hurdles in blocking out moisture and oxygen, a barrier critical for protecting food, pharmaceuticals, and sensitive electronics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENow, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a biologically based film made from natural ingredients found in plants, mushrooms, and food waste that can block moisture and oxygen as effectively as conventional plastics. Their findings were recently \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/pubs.acs.org\/doi\/10.1021\/acsapm.5c02909\u0022\u003Epublished\u003C\/a\u003E in \u003Cem\u003EACS Applied Polymer Materials\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019re using materials that are already abundant in and degrade in nature to produce packaging that won\u2019t pollute the environment for hundreds or even thousands of years,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sites.gatech.edu\/meredith\/\u0022\u003ECarson Meredith\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EChBE@GT\u003C\/a\u003E) and executive director of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/rbi\u0022\u003ERenewable Bioproducts Institute\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cOur films, composed of biodegradable components, rival or exceed the performance of conventional plastics in keeping food fresh and safe.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMeredith\u2019s research team has worked for more than a decade to develop environmentally friendly oxygen and water barriers for packaging. While earlier research using biopolymers showed promise, high humidity continued to weaken the barrier properties.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, Meredith and his collaborators found a fix using a blend of these natural ingredients: cellulose (which gives plants their structure), chitosan (derived from crustacean-based food waste or mushrooms), and citric acid (from citrus fruits).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBy crosslinking these materials and adding a heat treatment, we created a thin film that reduced both moisture and oxygen transmission, even in hot, humid conditions simulating the tropics,\u201d said lead author Yang Lu, a former postdoctoral researcher in ChBE@GT.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe barrier technology developed by the researchers consists of three primary components: a carbohydrate polymer for structure, a plasticizer to maintain flexibility, and a water-repelling additive to resist moisture. When cast into thin films, these ingredients self-organize at the molecular level to form a dense, ordered structure that resists swelling or softening under high humidity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEven at 80 percent relative humidity, the films showed extremely low oxygen permeability and water vapor transmission, matching or outperforming common plastics such as poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and poly(ethylene vinyl alcohol) (EVOH).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur approach creates barriers that are not only renewable, but also mechanically robust, offering a promising alternative to conventional plastics in packaging applications,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/stingelin-lab.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ENatalie Stingelin\u003C\/a\u003E, professor and chair of Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Materials Science and Engineering (\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.mse.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EMSE\u003C\/a\u003E) and a professor in ChBE@GT.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe research team has filed for patent protection for the technology (patent pending). The research was supported by Mars Inc., Georgia Tech\u2019s Renewable Bioproducts Institute, and the U.S. Department of Defense through the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship Program. Eric Klingenberg, a co-author of the study, is an employee of Mars, a manufacturer of packaged foods.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECitation: Yang Lu, Javaz T. Rolle, Tanner Hickman, Yue Ji, Eric Klingenberg, Natalie Stingelin, and Carson Meredith, \u201c\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/pubs.acs.org\/doi\/10.1021\/acsapm.5c02909\u0022\u003ETransforming renewable carbohydrate-based polymers into oxygen and moisture-barriers at elevated humidity\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E,\u201d ACS Applied Polymer Materials\u003C\/em\u003E, 2025.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a biologically based film made from natural ingredients found in plants, mushrooms, and food waste that can block moisture and oxygen as effectively as conventional plastics.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a biologically based film made from natural ingredients found in plants, mushrooms, and food waste that can block moisture and oxygen as effectively as conventional plastics"}],"uid":"27271","created_gmt":"2025-11-04 16:55:50","changed_gmt":"2025-12-01 17:28:55","author":"Brad Dixon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-11-04T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2025-11-04T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"678529":{"id":"678529","type":"image","title":"packagingresearchimage.jpeg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EA biologically based film made from natural ingredients found in plants, mushrooms, and food waste\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1762275364","gmt_created":"2025-11-04 16:56:04","changed":"1762275364","gmt_changed":"2025-11-04 16:56:04","alt":"Biobased film for packaging","file":{"fid":"262579","name":"packagingresearchimage.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/11\/04\/packagingresearchimage.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/11\/04\/packagingresearchimage.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":89643,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/11\/04\/packagingresearchimage.jpeg?itok=MdlzaOoB"}},"678531":{"id":"678531","type":"image","title":"carsonmeredith2024web.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EProfessor Carson Meredith\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1762275906","gmt_created":"2025-11-04 17:05:06","changed":"1762275906","gmt_changed":"2025-11-04 17:05:06","alt":"Professor Carson Meredith","file":{"fid":"262581","name":"carsonmeredith2024web.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/11\/04\/carsonmeredith2024web.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/11\/04\/carsonmeredith2024web.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":90187,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/11\/04\/carsonmeredith2024web.jpg?itok=QyHLCIWs"}},"678532":{"id":"678532","type":"image","title":"stingelin2021.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EProfessor Natalie Stingelin\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1762276002","gmt_created":"2025-11-04 17:06:42","changed":"1762276002","gmt_changed":"2025-11-04 17:06:42","alt":"Professor Natalie Stingelin","file":{"fid":"262582","name":"stingelin2021.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/11\/04\/stingelin2021.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/11\/04\/stingelin2021.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":119243,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/11\/04\/stingelin2021.jpg?itok=I5aE6cGH"}}},"media_ids":["678529","678531","678532"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"194836","name":"Sustainability"}],"keywords":[{"id":"5275","name":"plastics"},{"id":"129691","name":"advanced packaging research"},{"id":"6188","name":"BioPolymers"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"188020","name":"go-rbi"},{"id":"188360","name":"go-bbiss"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"},{"id":"193652","name":"Matter and Systems"},{"id":"39491","name":"Renewable Bioproducts"},{"id":"194566","name":"Sustainable Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBrad Dixon, \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:braddixon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebraddixon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["braddixon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}