Bio-based bandages may take the sting out of removing them

In Pennsylvania, Penn State food scientists report that a process that spins starch into fine strands could take the sting out of removing bandages, as well as produce less expensive and more environmentally-friendly toilet paper, napkins and other products.

Lingyan Kong, graduate student, used a solvent to dissolve the starch into a fluid that can then be spun into long strands, or fibers. These fibers can be combined and formed into paper-like mats similar to napkins, tissues and other types of paper products.  The material could be used to make bandages, that instead of being painfully removed, the starch bandages would degrade into glucose, a substance the body safely absorbs.