香蕉皮的新生命――生物塑料

Marco： Our next story is about a different sort of challenge， though it still involves finding better ways to use our natural resources. Sixteen-year-old Elif Bilgin from Istanbul， Turkey， wanted to find an alternative to traditional petroleum-based plastic production. She came up with a way to develop a bio-plastic from， get this， discarded banana peels. Her project won a 2013“Science in Action” award and a $50，000 prize from Scientific American. So how’d you come up with this idea， taking bananas and turning them into bio-plastic？

Elif： I read a paper about how to make bio-plastic out of potatoes and the 1）starch that was extracted from that， and I thought maybe I could find another substance that I could use to make a plastic， which was not something we consume every day but actually we throw away every day， and the banana peel was a really good example for that.

Marco： So how do you do it？ How do you take this banana peel and get the starch out of it and turn it into plastic？

Elif： I actually just take the banana peel and then dip it into a special solution， which has some chemicals in it―it’s called 2）sodium metabisulfite solution―and then I boil the banana peels， and then actually mash them into some sort of a 3）puree or paste. And then I take 25 millilitres of this paste， add sodium 4）hydroxide and 5）hydrochloric acid and also 6）glycerin， and then I bake it and it becomes plastic.

Marco： And you did this， like， in your Mom’s kitchen or something？

Elif： I did part of it in my Mom’s kitchen， part of it at the laboratory， and， well， that was it.

Marco： And， like any good scientist， you had to experience the disappointment of trial and error， but you finally landed on a formula that lasts for a while. Can you take banana plastic and turn it into an everyday item， for example， plastic water bottle. Are you there yet？

Elif： I didn’t try with water bottles but I actually 7）insulated a copper cable，…

Marco： Wow！

Elif： …and also， if you bake it into a mold it can be actually used in the making of cosmetic 8）prostheses.

Marco： And how long does this plastic last， ’cause I know some plastics， they get a little 9）brittle after a while， they fall apart. What’s the duration on your plastic？

Elif： I’m not sure exactly because， it’s a funny story， I didn’t think that I was gonna be chosen， so I threw the plastics away after， like， three months， so I’m not really sure， but it stays 10）intact for a long time.

Marco： Right. It lasted long enough for you to get the prize from Scientific American. You know， just the other day I was wondering about plastics―I wonder about things like that―and was really surprised to find out that plastics actually pre-date mass fossil fuel use by centuries. Like， even in the Middle Ages， they were making plastics out of bio-proteins like blood and egg yolk. So are you reclaiming the plastics of years past？

Elif： Well， we polluted the Earth long enough and I think we should go back to the old way， so we can actually reclaim a part of it.

Marco： So， you…you won $50，000 for this. What are you gonna do with the prize money？

Elif： I’m not sure， but my main focus will be to further develop my project.

Marco： Keep on working with banana peel plastics， bio-plastics？

Elif： Yeah.

Marco： Elif， I’m…I’m just curious how a…a 16-year-old young woman got into experimenting with plastics， when I’m sure a lot of other people around you are more interested in who the latest pop star is and…

Elif： Yeah， Justin Bieber.

Marco： …where Justin Bieber’s flying next.

Elif： Yeah. Well I really love science and I’ve been attending a school for gifted students for the last six years， and they support you a lot and encourage you to do scientific research， and I’ve been in that program for six years， and I’ve been very interested in science.

Marco： What do you think the big oil companies will have to say about banana peel plastics？

Elif： Oh my， I’m not sure.

Marco： Sixteen-year-old Elif Bilgin from Istanbul， who’s won the 2013 “Science in Action” award.

马可：同样是关于如何更好地利用自然资源，我们的下一个故事可以说是另一种挑战。来自土耳其伊斯坦布尔的16岁女孩艾利芙・比尔金希望能找到一种新的方法来替代靠石油制造塑料的传统方式。最终，听好了，她想出了利用丢弃的香蕉皮制造生物塑料的方法。她因此在2013年赢得了由《科学美国人》赞助的“科学在行动”奖并获得五万美元的奖金。你是怎么想到用香蕉的皮制造生物塑料这个点子的？

艾利芙：我曾读到一篇论文讲的是利用土豆，从土豆中提取出淀粉来制造生物塑料。所以我想也许我能找到另一种物质―― 一种我们每天丢弃而不是每天消耗的东西，来制造塑料。香蕉皮就是这样一个好例子。

马可：那具体是如何操作的呢？你是怎么将香蕉皮中的淀粉提取出来并将之变成塑料的呢？

艾利芙：我就是将香蕉皮浸泡在一种含化学物质的特殊溶液――焦亚硫酸钠溶液中，然后将它煮沸并捣碎成泥状或糊状物。取25毫升这种泥状物，加入氢氧化钠、盐酸和甘油，再拿去烘烤，它就变成塑料了。

马可：这么说，你像是在妈妈的厨房之类的地方完成这些步骤的？

艾利芙：确实有一部分是在妈妈的厨房里进行的，而剩下的得在实验室里完成。嗯，没错，就是这样。

马可：像所有成功的科学家一样，你一定也经历了反复试验失败的那种挫败感，但你最终找到了比较稳定的配方。你能将这种香蕉塑料用于我们日常用品的制作吗？比方说塑料水瓶，你走到那一步了吗？

艾利芙：我没有拿它试做塑料瓶，但我用它做了铜线电缆的绝缘材料……

马可：哇！

艾利芙：……还有，如果将它烤制成型还能用作医用假体。

马可：这种塑料的耐用性怎样呢，因为我知道有些塑料过不了多久就会裂开，整个散架，你这种塑料的耐用性如何呢？

艾利芙：具体多久我也不是很清楚。说来有点搞笑，因为我觉得自己不太可能获奖，交完作品大概三个月吧，我就把它扔了，所以我也不知道具体是多久，但应该能用挺久的。

马可：好吧，至少它让你获得了《科学美国人》杂志的这个奖。你知道的，我一直对这类事情感兴趣，前几天我还在想塑料这种东西，让我惊讶的是实际上塑料的出现比人类大量使用矿物燃料早了几百年。例如，早在中世纪，人们就曾利用血液和蛋黄之类的生物蛋白来制造塑料。这么说来，你是在重新使用旧时制造塑料的方法？

艾利芙：我们对地球已经造成了太多的污染，我们可以尝试重新使用旧时的方法，或许至少借鉴一部分旧时的方法。马可：你还赢得了五万美元的奖金，打算拿这些钱做点什么呢？

艾利芙：我还不太确定，但主要还是用于我这个项目的进一步研究。

马可：继续研究香蕉皮塑料，生物塑料这一块？

艾利芙：是的。

马可：艾利芙，我只是有点好奇为什么一个16岁的年轻女孩会如此痴迷于研究塑料，相信你身边的大多数朋友和同学应该都热衷于最近大热的流行明星和……

艾利芙：没错，像是贾斯汀・比伯。

马可：贾斯汀・比伯下次会飞去哪儿？

艾利芙：没错，但我实在是很喜欢科学这门学科，我所在的学校专门招收特别有天赋的学生，我在那读了六年书，学校会支持我们的想法并鼓励我们做科学研究，我参加学校的科学研究项目六年了，我对科学特别感兴趣。

马可：你觉得那些石油公司的巨擘们会对你的香蕉皮塑料作何感想？

艾利芙：噢，这个我可说不准。

马可：这就是获得2013年度“科学在行动”奖的16岁女孩，来自伊斯坦布尔的艾利芙・比尔金。翻译：Minis