Article: Scientists Unveil Hemp Alternative to Plastic That Can Withstand Boiling Water and Stretch to 1,600% its Size

A surprisingly robust, yet green, alternative to plastic packaging has been developed from the hemp plant–an age-old form of the cannabis plant that doesn’t get people high.

The non-toxic plastic alternative is a stretchy thermoplastic that can extend up to 1,600% of its size.

The material also has a high “glass transition temperature”—a quality that allows plastics to stay durable when it comes into contact with boiling hot water—according to a study published this week in the journal Chem Circularity.

“Very few, if any, plastics made from natural resources have this quality,” said study co-author University of Connecticut Professor Gregory Sotzing in a media release.

The research team hopes that cannabidiol (CBD) from the hemp flower can replace bisphenol-A, the synthetic industrial chemical found in today’s processed plastics, because bisphenol-A is “a known endocrine disruptor”—meaning it can disturb the delicate balance of our hormones.

Prof. Sotzing says the hemp material is suitable for producing transparent plastic films, coatings, and other common materials currently made from petroleum-based materials such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is widely used in single-use water bottles, food packaging, and substrates for flexible electronics.

Those applications require medium- to high-temperature stability and melt processability, so the material can be formed and shaped—which the team has achieved in a hemp-based polycarbonate for the first time.

Co-author Dr. Mukerrem Cakmak, of Purdue University, said their work has established CBD-based polycarbonates as sustainable replacements for widely used thermoplastics such as PET.

“We have developed a rigorous processing science framework that links molecular architecture to melt processability, orientation development, and stretchability without compromising manufacturability.”

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