Humans generated about 485 billion pounds of plastic waste in 2024 – an amount so large it’s incredibly difficult to comprehend. One quick drink or single shipment box often lingers for centuries, so researchers keep hunting for materials that disappear safely after use.
Now Maksud Rahman, a mechanical engineer at the University of Houston, and collaborators at Rice University report bacterial cellulose sheets that rival metal for strength yet compost like paper.
This biopolymer is spun outside the cell wall of species such as Novacetimonas hansenii, forming ribbons only a few nanometers thick that lock together like Velcro and can reach tensile strength values above 400 MPa.
Because the fiber network is pure, porous, and matches human tissue chemistry, clinicians already test it as a transparent wound covering that eases pain and speeds healing.
