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From self-tubulating cornhusk to green, cheap, high-performance biomass straws
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Scientists found a clever way to turn cornhusks, a farm waste product, into sturdy, biodegradable drinking straws using a natural coating (chitosan, derived from shellfish) instead of plastic. These straws are cheap to make, produce almost no carbon emissions, and could help cut down on plastic waste that breaks into microplastics, which have been found in human blood, organs, and even brain tissue. While more research is needed on long-term health effects of microplastics, swapping plastic straws for biodegradable ones is a simple step that could reduce our everyday exposure to them.
To mitigate environmental pollution caused by plastic straws, wood veneer featuring a two-dimensional (2D) structure has been utilized for producing degradable straws. However, the formation of bendable 2D structures required for straw production typically involves pretreatments such as rotary cutting, chemical activation, and polymer infiltration. Herein, cornhusks possessing inherent self-tubulation properties were employed to produce biomass-based straws featuring tunable inner diameters and lengths via a facile top–down method. Tubular cornhusks were immersed in chitosan solution, followed by twisting and drying/baking to form chitosan–cornhusk straws (chitosan–CHS). A self-tubulation mechanism based on differences in microstructure and volume shrinkage between the inner and outer cornhusk surfaces was proposed. The mechanical performance of chitosan–CHS was comparable to that of plastic and paper straws. The material cost and cradle-to-gate carbon footprint of a single chitosan–CHS were 0.11 cents and 0.057 g CO 2 e, respectively. Theoretically, 1.2 million straws can be produced from 1 hm 2 of cornfield. Overall, by integrating sustainability, cost-effectiveness, scalability, wastewater-free production, biodegradability, recyclability, and a low carbon footprint, chitosan–CHS provide a promising alternative to commercial paper and plastic straws.
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Edible Straws as Promising Biodegradable Alternatives to Single-Use Plastics: A Comprehensive Review
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Single-use plastic straws are a small but symbolic part of the microplastics problem, and this review surveys research into edible straws as a biodegradable alternative, covering materials ranging from cassava starch and seaweed to cellulose and proteins. Lab results are promising — cellulose-based versions show good strength, seaweed-based ones biodegrade quickly, and life cycle analyses confirm ecological advantages over plastic — but challenges including high production costs, short shelf life, and lack of regulatory standards are holding back commercial adoption. The review concludes that realizing the potential of edible straws will require coordination across material science, food engineering, and policy.
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