Read the full story in R&D Magazine.
A new material made from substances common in crab shells and tree fibers could replace the flexible plastic packaging used to keep food fresh.
Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology sprayed multiple, alternating layers of chitin—a fibrous substance consisting of polysaccharides that is present in shellfish, insects and fungi—and cellulose, a biopolymer present in plants and trees, to form a flexible film that can compete with plastic packaging film.