• Question: Hello! What's the bendiest, safest plastic to use?

    Asked by anon-271432 on 28 Nov 2020.
    • Photo: Samit Chakrabarty

      Samit Chakrabarty answered on 28 Nov 2020:

      It depends on what you want to make with that plastic.
      We use 2 different kinds of these, one that is squeeshy and soft and easy to mould(PDMS) while another that is stiff like a wrist band that curls by itself (Kapton), both for capturing signals from our body with. We cover thin lines and pieces of metal with these plastic to then capture how your muscles in the hand are working or how your heart is beating.

    • Photo: Rachel Jackson

      Rachel Jackson answered on 30 Nov 2020:

      Hello!

      Bendiness in plastic is normally called ‘flexibility’. LLDPE is a very flexible plastic and you will see it being used in your everyday life. It is used in plastic bags, food packaging, containers, toys and tubing. It is also used to make ‘stretch wrap’ which is like cling film which keeps food safe in your fridge.

      LLDPE is used to package types of food like fruit and vegetables meaning it is known as ‘food safe’. This means the plastic does not release harmful, toxic chemicals into the food.

    • Photo: Ben Pritchard

      Ben Pritchard answered on 30 Nov 2020:

      This is a hard question to answer! It all depends what you want the plastic for.

      Cling Film is a very bendy plastic, hence why we use it to wrap our food in. But there are concerns that acidic food like tomatoes can cause it to break down, and introduce plastic molecules into our food.

      And it terms of safety, do you want your plastic to be fire-proof? Or to hold a heavy weight safely.

      There are so many plastics for different tasks and applications. And a whole industry dedicated to creating better plastics.

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