Alganyl: Biodegradable Plastic

Alganyl Banner

Alganyl is a highly customizable and accessible biomaterial made from marine algae that acts like vinyl fabric, but is recyclable (through a re-cooking process) and compostable (biodegrading in 60 days). Stemming from Fiona Bell's initial explorations with bioplastics, researchers at the Living Matter Lab further explored ways of creating everything from biodegradable sensors to DIY clothing from Alganyl. This work has been patented and published in TEI'21 and Journal Diseña. Future work with Alganyl now revolves around hosting public workshops through the Living Matter Lab and ACORN.

Living Matter Lab

Associated Researchers

Publications

Fiona Bell, Netta Ofer, Hyelin Choi, Ella McQuaid, Ethan Frier, and Mirela Alistar. 2022. "Biomaterial Playground: Engaging with Bio-based Materiality". In" Extended Abstracts of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’22). (New Orleans, LA—April 29-May 5, 2022).

(Patent) Alganyl - filed under US 63/184,992

Fiona Bell, Ella McQuaid, and Mirela Alistar. 2022. "Alganyl: Cooking Sustainable Clothing". In: Diseña 20: Design and Somatic Sensibilities.

Fiona Bell, Latifa Al-Naimi, Ella McQuaid, and Mirela Alistar. 2022. "Designing with Alganyl". In: Sixteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI '22). (Daejeon, Republic of Korea (virtual) Feb. 13-16, 2022).

Fiona Bell and Mirela Alistar. 2022. "Designing with Alganyl: A Hands-on Exploration of Biodegradable Plastics". In: Sixteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI '22). (Daejeon, Republic of Korea (virtual)–Feb. 13-16, 2022).