Cambridge Team Creates Microplastic-Free Plant-Based Glitter

Glitter spruces up everything from makeup to craft projects, but one thing it doesn’t improve is the environment.

Photo Insert: Vials that contain a combination of photonic CNC particles dispersed in three different solvents: water, water: ethanol, and ethanol.

Researchers at Cambridge University have now developed a biodegradable glitter that swaps out the plastic and aluminum for plant-based cellulose and which can be produced at scale, Michael Irving reported for New Atlas.

Glitter is a major contributor to the problem of microplastics. The sparkly stuff may be next on the chopping block as part of wider bans on single-use plastics, and unfortunately, even the so-called “eco-friendly” alternatives aren’t much better, because they often still use coatings of plastic and aluminum to give them their sheen.

The Cambridge team, however, claims to have developed a new type of glitter that’s completely biodegradable. It contains no plastic or aluminum at all, being composed instead of colloidal particles of cellulose nanocrystals, sourced from the cell walls of plants, fruits, vegetables, and wood pulp.

The glitter gets its characteristic sparkle from the nanoscale structure of its surface, producing iridescent effects similar to those seen in peacock feathers or butterfly wings. The study was published by the journal Nature Materials.

The researchers outline how to produce the new glitter at scale too, which they say can be done using existing roll-to-roll infrastructure. A cellulose solution is deposited onto a substrate material, dried out, peeled off as a film, then ground up into particles of the desired size and shape.

Not only is the end product better for the environment, but the team says this production method is more energy efficient than making regular glitter.

The team says the glitter alternative could be used in cosmetics, crafts, and essentially anywhere else regular glitter turns up. They even say that it’s safe for use in food and drinks.

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