Researchers, Victoria Finkenstadt and J.L. Willett at the ARS (Agricultural Research Services of the USDA) have demonstrated that plant polysaccharides like starch work just as well as petroleum-based substances in manufacturing electro-active polymers (plastics that expand or contract when stimulated by electricity). Starch obtained from maize costs about $0.40/kg compared with a synthetic polymer (e.g. polyaniline emeraldine) at $58/gm. In the Plant Polymer Research Unit, scientists created bio-polymers that bend and contract slightly when pulsed with electricity. They also devised a process for overcoming the natural insulating characteristics of natural polysaccharides. There is significant interest in the use of electr-oactive polymers in many industrial and biomedical applications For further information see “Agricultural Research” magazine. www.ars.usda.gov
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