Belarus Invents How to Make Feminine Pads from Starch
The Belarusian brand Lino of the company «MedLyon» has developed feminine hygiene pads that use a material based on potato starch. The developers aimed to create a truly natural product that would be ecological and at the same time reliable in use, writes «Minskaya Prauda».
Photo: medlen.by
The problem was that even «natural» hygiene products usually contain plastic, which is used as a waterproof layer. It is because of this that such products practically do not decompose in nature and can last for hundreds of years. Therefore, technologists began to look for an alternative and turned their attention to corn and potato starch, from which a special biodegradable polymer can be obtained.
In the production process, starch undergoes complex processing and turns into a very thin membrane film. It performs the same function as polyethylene — protecting against leakage, but at the same time is capable of decomposition. Its structure has microscopic pores: liquid does not pass through them, but vapor can exit, therefore the material «breathes» and does not create a greenhouse effect for the skin.
Photo: medlen.by
Other layers of the product are also made from natural materials. The top layer consists of a mixture of cotton and linen, which has natural antiseptic properties. During raw material processing, active oxygen technology is used instead of chlorine bleaching.
During development, many difficulties arose. Linen itself is quite stiff, so it had to be specially processed and mixed with cotton to make the material soft. In addition, starch polymers are more fragile than ordinary plastic, so specialists had to find a balance between the film's durability and thinness, as well as develop an adhesive layer compatible with natural components.
Photo: medlen.by
As a result, a product was created that decomposes much faster than traditional counterparts. Starch-based materials gradually turn into water, carbon dioxide, and biomass, thus harming the environment less. Thus, potatoes, common in Belarusian cuisine, found an unexpected application in modern ecological technologies.
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Comments
У́ бульбе крухмалю амаль 30% , гэта небясьпечна .