Engineered ambient-dried dialdehyde cellulose foams with programmable flexible-to-rigid architectures for thermal insulation and protective packaging

Summary

Scientists made a new type of foam out of rice straw (a farm waste product) instead of plastic, using a simple air-drying process rather than energy-intensive methods. This foam can be engineered to be either soft and flexible or hard and rigid, making it useful for protective packaging and insulation — and because it's plant-based and biodegradable, it won't stick around in landfills or break down into the microplastics that plastic foams shed into our food, water, and bodies.