Alganyl is a highly customizable and accessible biomaterial made from marine algae that acts like vinyl fabric, but is recyclable (through a re-cooking process) and compostable (biodegrading in 60 days). Stemming from an initial design space exploration of bioplastics, this project explores ways of creating everything from biodegradable sensors to DIY clothing from Alganyl. This work has a provisional patent and has been published in TEI'21 and Journal Diseña. Current work with Alganyl revolves around hosting public workshops through the Living Matter Lab and ACORN.

TEI’22

We explore designing with Alganyl, a highly customizable and sustainable biomaterial made of made from renewable resources. To make Alganyl, we optimized existing DIY bioplastics for flexibility and strength, resulting in a biomaterial that acts and feels similar to vinyl fabric. Moreover, Alganyl is a zero-waste material that can be fully recycled or biodegraded in 60 days. We further mapped out a design space for Alganyl, which we exemplify with applications ranging from environment sensing wearables and basic circuits, to sculptures and toys. Lastly, we conducted a user study, where participants found Alganyl to be an accessible, sustainable and versatile material for making.

Alganyl feels and acts similarly to traditional vinyl fabric made from PVC plastic. Similar to traditional thermoplastics, we use heat sealing as a way to additively fabricate with Alganyl.

We embed non-toxic color changing pigments within Alganyl to create sensors. We made a themrochromic swatch that goes from green (cold) to yellow (hot) and a photochromic swatch that goes from white (not exposed to UV light) to blue (exposed to UV light).

Diseña Journal

We further explored Alganyl as a potential biotextile that can be created through the embodied knowledge of cooking. Our replicable process involves cooking Alganyl in the kitchen, followed by cutting and heat-sealing to create clothing. We apply these guiding design principles and processes to make three articles of Alganyl clothing including a dress, a shirt, and a skirt. We also highlight three guiding principles for designing clothing with Alganyl: materiality, accessibility, and sustainability. Through our experiences with Alganyl, we believe that it has the potential to bring a future where clothing is an autonomous form of self-expression that has minimal impact on the environment.

We analyze the sustainability of Alganyl via the Life Cycle Assessment, where we look at each step of the Alganyl clothing life cycle.