Material Innovation

Creating an eco-friendly alternative to petroleum-based plastics is only one part of the long road to viability and it is with this goal that researchers have developed algae-based “completely biodegradable” polymers.

The fourth edition of the industry report on NextGen materials by Material Innovation Initiative finds that close to $500 million was invested in the sector in the past year.

There’s yet another alternative to genuine leather as pre-consumer recycled leather is fused with Lenzing’s Tencel lyocell fibres to create an all new nextgen material in a resource-saving, closed-loop production process.

Biomimetics has helped researchers in Japan to create a device that spins artificial spider silk that closely matches natural spider silk which is biodegradable and ideal for biomedical applications, such as sutures and artificial ligaments.

Biotech company MycoWorks has successfully harvested and shipped over a thousand sheets of its luxury leather-alternative biomaterial Fine Mycelium.

Biotechnology company MycoWorks has begun production of its leather-alternative material at its manufacturing facility — perhaps the world’s largest mycelium material operation — in the United States.

In what could be a new chapter of next-generation smart clothes, researchers at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) have come up with an energy-harvesting versatile fabric that can generate electricity from sweat and body movements.

After years of research and development, biomaterials tech major MycoWorks is all set to supply millions of square feet of its flagship leather alternative ‘Reishi’ with the opening of a state-of-the-art facility in South Carolina this September.

An animal and plastic-free leather alternative crafted from waste barley grain from beer brewing industry has received £1.1m of investment from a clean-tech venture capital fund.

Using biotechnology to design performance products, a US-based enterprise has launched a line of activewear using 100% petroleum-free wicking technology derived from microalgae instead of fossil fuels.