To reduce amount of products in stores that are manufactured of unrecyclable or poorly recyclable materials, a lot of world leading companies look at a farmer’s fields to find an appropriate solution today. And they are not only guided by green tendencies. By using environmentally friendly materials companies can bring down taxes and costs of productions. Five plants that are presented here are essential for the future technology and they can be accessed in any part of the world. Let us see what prospective gadgets will be made of.
1. GuyuleThis plan can be easily found in dry spaciousness of North America. Guyule is remarkable for the fact that it is a source of rubber and latex. Most prevalent source now and before – rubber trees. Guayule’s latex is way better than the "old" one. First – it is allergy free and recommended for kids' products or products that contact with human's skin like headphones, wristwatches, medical gloves, etc. Also guayule latex can sustain more tension without strain. Second and the most interesting fact – guayule latex perfectly meets a demand of flexible screens, flexible keyboards and many other similar gadgets. Third – another biofuel source. Guayule is very easy to grow and it doesn't require much water. Farmers would not meet difficulties to raise guayule for fuel or latex if they decide to.
2. CornWhat can be more common for country sight than a corn field? But corn hasn't revealed all its facilities yet. For the world of modern technologies it can bring fully recyclable plastics made from corn. No products like cell phones, computers or MP3 players come without plastic parts. The problem is that it doesn't get recycled and will stay forever at dumps. Something has to be done with it sooner or later and corn has already flowed into high-tech world as a new material source.
3. AlgaeThis one here is a very multioptional plant. Algae can be used in many production fields. It is used for tin food, when dried out can be burnt for heat, applying fertilizer, etc. But that is not what we are interested in. For best use to our cars algae can be an initial product for perfectly flammable high-octane biodiesel, which is cheaper and a lot less harmful to our ozone layer. Actually algae biodiesel is already successfully produced and sold mostly in Europe. Algae is 100 percent renewable plant and that is its one of the basic advantages over oil and petrol fuels.
4. CocklebursCockleburs is well known as natural prototype of Velcro. Thanks to George de Mestral – the Velcro inventor. Back in 1941 it was an amassing contraption and from then on it made its way to many cutting edge technologies like space suits and army equipment. They even have Velcro that produces no sound at all while opening. Its advantages are: unpretentiousness to materials. It can be made of practically all existing plastics as well as of recycled ones. Velcro, if made properly, can be of extreme durability. Only 2 square inches can hold a grown man with no problems.
5. LotusThe structure of a lotus leaf is intricate and quite useful for some gadgets. Because lotus grows in muddy marshes but stays always clean, Asians call lotus a symbol of clean and honest soul. The secret is simple. Lotus leaf is rough enough to keep a microscopic amount of air so water or dust, don't attach to it but roll down when it gets on the leaf. The "Lotus effect" has a hydrophobic concept in its core. This feature can be used in different domains. First one is clothing – clothes that don't need to be taken to laundry when some dirty water or something else is spilled on it. The second domain is after gadgeteer's heart. The "Lotus effect" is taken into account in touchscreen design. Touchscreen that gets dirty easily is another trouble to one's head but with the help of nature we get rid of it.
These five plants have already proved their ability to become reliable, safe to use and environmentally friendly future materials. They also contain an unsurpassed potential for prospective gadgets. Main advantages of these plants are accessibility, recycle ability, very simple in growth and free of any abuse to users. Such products, made of these plants, are most perspective to be developed for new technologies. Probably some of them will form a part of our everyday life very soon.
