Making the most of starch
With some clever chemistry starch represents an enormous and sustainable source of renewable carbon for non-food applications.
In Short
- Increasing the surface area of starch opens up new applications for this abundant molecule
- Simply heating starch with water forms a gel, which when dried carefully with ethanol gives a porous, high surface area form of starch
One of the great challenges that we face in the 21st century is to build up new manufacturing industries based on renewable resources.1 Traditional organic chemicals, materials and pharmaceutical companies rely on fossil resources, notably petrochemicals, from which they make the products that go into such everyday substances as fabrics, dyes, packaging, drugs, construction materials and electronic goods. But fossil resources are finite, and oil - the source of petrochemicals - will become increasingly scarce as the century progresses. Biomass - in the form of starch - represents a real long-term solution.
Make your lessons pop
Choose an account option to continue exploring our full range of articles and teaching resources