CC06 Chrondus Crispus (Carrageenan)

Using the seaweed from CC05, I tried to make more bioplastic by blending the seaweed goop in water and applying heat.

Ingredients:

1. Water (100 mL boiling or hot)

2. The seaweed solids from CC05

Procedure:

1. When you strain the goop and the seaweed with a mesh strainer in CC05, collect whatever is in the mesh strainer.

2. Put what you collected from the mesh strainer into a beaker.

3. Let the beaker sit for a week. Do not touch it or add water. Don't worry, mold will not grow.

4. After a week, dump the contents of the beaker into a blender. I used an immersion blender for this, but other beakers should work just as well.

5. Add the boiling or hot water to the blender.

6. Blend for a few minutes so you can obtain a very thick and homogenous slurry. This step takes some time but is critical for a cosmetically-appealing bioplastic. Imagine the slurry being a milkshake - you don't want any seaweed bits in it - so you need to blend for a while.

7. Pour the slurry into a pan.

8. Heat the pan until it reaches just below boiling and gelling starts happening. This could take between 3-10 minutes depending on quantity, temperature, and preferred bioplastic thickness.

9. Cast your gelled slurry onto a glass plate or silicone mold.

10. Wait 5 days and peel off your bioplastic!

Images of the process:

Before drying:

During drying:

After drying:

Results:

This turned out to be a success, albeit the plastic smells a little funny. It's not very transparent either. But it is really flexible and thin, with some strength and structure to it. And it doesn't stick to itself!