Overview
- The IBEC-led work, published in Nature Communications, reports a chitosan-based material that gains strength when wet, with contributions from SUTD.
- Measured tensile strength rose from about 36 MPa when dry to about 53 MPa when wet, with optimal 0.8 M nickel samples nearly doubling on immersion.
- Demonstrations included watertight containers, a 1 m2 film that supported a 20 kg load after 24 hours in water, and a 244 × 122 cm film with similar performance.
- The process recovers nickel expelled during first immersion for reuse in subsequent batches, forming a zero-waste loop, and the material biodegraded by roughly half after about four months in garden soil.
- Near-term uses are expected in agriculture, fishing gear and packaging, with possible medical applications requiring additional regulatory validation.