CC04 Chrondus Crispus (Carrageenan)

This time, I am soaking the seaweed and collecting the residue to use in bioplastic production, vaguely following an ancient guide from the FAO: https://www.fao.org/3/y4765e/y4765e0a.htm. This includes an alkaline heated bath to replace some of the sulfate groups. This makes a stronger gel by creating OH bonding sites for the water and other polysaccharide molecules. It also says the kappa-Carrageenan gels form in the presence of potassium ions, but I know that isn't always the case, seeing as no potassium ions were present when I made my earlier films. I do not know how the potassium ions make the carrageenan gel. For this initial test, no alkaline baths will be used, just hot water.

Ingredients:

1. Water (50 mL)

2. Whole leaf dried Chrondus crispus (1.5g)

Procedure:

1. Soak the seaweed in just below boiling water for 2 hours. Make sure that no heat is applied to the seaweed after the initial heat burst.

2. Pour the goop and the seaweed into a mesh strainer.

3. Capture the goop from the strainer. At this point, you can discard the seaweed or keep it to get more goop out.

4. Cast the goop into a mold.

5. Let dry for 5 days.

6. Done!

Before drying:

After drying:

And

Results:

I would call this a minor success. I successfully extracted some polysaccharides but didn't make anything strong or good with it. The process has hope but needs serious amounts of refining to get the optimal bioplastic yield. We seem to be experiencing a downward trend in bioplastic since CC01...