Fruity nanofibers can make for super-strong plastics, banana-flavored body panels

Carbon fiber continues to be the cloth of choice for top-end components that need a lot of strength and not using a lot of weight, but wouldn’t life be better if those components were made up of pineapple? Apparently, yes. As a minimum that’s the case in step with Brazilian scientists led by Alcides Leão, who’ve created so-called nanofibers from the pulp of diverse fruits, including pineapple leaves and coconut shells. These are processed all the way down to create nano-scale threads that, when added to plastics, form a composite 30 percent lighter than carbon fiber yet three or four times stronger. Healthier, too. No word on when these things may well be in full production, but we glance forward to cradling our future fruit-based gadgets.

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This post is tagged: brazilian scientists, carbon-fiber, coconut shells, future fruit, nanofibers, pineapple