Material

Coconut, Banana, Hemp, Sisal

By

Made in

Bacteria 30 Biodegradable 273 Circular 259 Composite 116 Fibre 84 Plant-based 199 Recyclable 147 Vegan 102 Bacterial cellulose 3 Hemp 12 Paper 35 Sisal 4

Coconut, Banana, Hemp, Sisal
Coconut, Banana, Hemp, Sisal
Coconut, Banana, Hemp, Sisal
Coconut, Banana, Hemp, Sisal
Coconut, Banana, Hemp, Sisal
Coconut, Banana, Hemp, Sisal
Coconut, Banana, Hemp, Sisal
Coconut, Banana, Hemp, Sisal
Coconut, Banana, Hemp, Sisal
Coconut, Banana, Hemp, Sisal
Coconut, Banana, Hemp, Sisal
Coconut, Banana, Hemp, Sisal
Coconut, Banana, Hemp, Sisal

Photos: Zuzana Gombosova, Susmith Chempodil

Malai Biocomposite

Malai is a bio-composite material based on bacterial cellulose grown on water from mature coconuts and natural fibres from the Banana stem, hemp and sisal.

The research to develop this material was initiated in 2017 by Zuzana Gombosova - material researcher and designer from Slovakia and Susmith Chempodil - mechanical engineer and product designer from Kerala, India. The initial aim was to research the potential of bacterial cellulose grown on water from mature coconuts for a variety of applications keeping the material as ecologically friendly as possible. Water from mature coconuts is a waste agricultural product of local coconut processing units, a small unit disposes up to 4000 litres per day. Today Malai is running a small manufacturing unit in South India with a capacity of 200 square meters per month and supplies the materials to brands, designers and manufacturers of fashion accessories in India and abroad. Malai as a material is made without the addition of any oil-based ingredients keeping the material compostable.

Text submitted by the maker and edited by the Future Materials Bank. For information about reproducing (a part of) this text, please contact the maker.

Ingredients

Bacterial cellulose, banana stem fibre, hemp fibre, sisal fibre

Physical samples

The Future Materials Lab at the Jan van Eyck Academie stores a selection of physical samples from the Future Materials Bank. Book an appointment at the Lab and use the numbers below to locate samples.

  • 0044-1

  • 0044-10

  • 0044-11

  • 0044-12

  • 0044-13

  • 0044-2

  • 0044-3

  • 0044-4

  • 0044-5

  • 0044-6

  • 0044-7

  • 0044-8

  • 0044-9