Light-emitting biopolymer
Bioplastics offer a broad range of characteristics suitable for design and architectural applications. Architect Peter Yeadon experiments with various configurations of bioplastics and dopes them with selected impurities to enhance their properties. Yeadon eschews conventional biodegradable polymers like polylactic acid (PLA), preferring feedstock derived from industrial biowaste that can withstand deterioration from solvents, such as tetrahydrofuran and acetone. He creates photoluminescent bioplastics out of triglycerides from biodiesel production, collagen from cattle tissue, and light-emitting colloids.
In 2015 his firm, Yeadon Space Agency, collaborated with industrial designer Danielle Storm Hoogland to produce an outdoor furniture prototype called the BioBench. The bench absorbs sunlight throughout the day and illuminates at night for enhanced visibility.
Contact: Yeadon Space Agency, Brooklyn, NY, USA.
For more information, see Transmaterial Next: A Catalog of Materials that Redefine Our Future
