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"This was achieved by the simple drying of thick, bulky, and shapable cellulose hydrogel prepared using aqueous lithium bromide (LiBr) solution as the solvent, where cellulose solution solidifies without the introduction of nonsolvents: Cellulose dissolves upon heating and solidifies upon cooling," the authors explained in the paper.

These results already are exciting, but the team wanted to test even more. They wanted tPB to be more than just a biodegradable plastic, so they looked into recyclability. They found that both the solvent used to produce it and the tPB itself can be recycled, although it creates a plastic that is less transparent. They also showed that it is possible to use upcycled materials to make this tPB.