Science Tokyo pupils develop gloves made of seaweed fibre

[thomas]

Weird science, yet environmentally friendly and sustainable: three talented high school students from Tokyo Metropolitan Tama High School of Science and Technology in Koganei, western Tokyo, have achieved something remarkable. They developed recyclable gloves using a fibre found in seaweed slime. This innovative creation has garnered them the prestigious Denka prize at the Japan Science & Engineering Challenge (JSEC) 2023. JSEC is a scientific research competition for high school and technical college students, organized by The Asahi Shimbun Co. and TV Asahi Corp.

The trio focused on alginic acid, a dietary fibre that causes sliminess in seaweeds such as tangle and "wakame." [...] They surveyed more than 120 workers who used gloves in the restaurant, nursing care and other industries and set the goal of developing comfortable and practical gloves. The students repeatedly made prototypes by experimenting with different aqueous solution concentrations and made gloves that were strong enough to endure various tasks. The ingredients in the gloves contain abundant water content, so the wearer's hands are shielded from the heat and cold and don't feel stuffy. The gloves are recyclable because they revert to the original sodium alginate when soaked in an aqueous sodium carbonate solution.

Tokyo high school kids develop seaweed slime gloves | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis