Coconut, Banana, Hemp, Sisal

Malai biocomposite

Malai is a biocomposite material based on Bacterial Cellulose grown on water from mature coconuts and natural fibres from Banana stem, Hemp and Sisal. The research for development of 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 l of it per day. Today Malai is running a small manufacturing unit in South India with a capacity of 200 sq.m./month and supplies the materials to brands, designers and manufacturers of fashion accessories in India and abroad. Malai as a material is made without addition of any oil-based ingredients keeping the material compostable.

Information submitted by the maker and edited by the Future Materials Bank.

Ingredients