Ewa Sroczyk, a doctoral student from the Faculty of Metal Engineering and Industrial Informatics at the AGH University of Science and Technology (AGH) in Krakow, Poland, has made a shrinkable membrane that is made from maize starch and can be used in the food industry as packaging and in medicine as a dressing.

So far, starch, which is massively used in the food industry, has also been used in the pharmaceutical industry (e.g. as a filler for medicines and pharmaceutical products), cosmetics (in the production of talc, powder, dry shampoo for hair) or textiles (to stiffen fabrics). 

To make such a membrane, the AGH doctoral student subjected a mixture of starch and formic acid to an electrospinning process. 

The electrical charge used in this method makes it possible to produce fibres with the desired physico-chemical properties, with diameters measured in micro- and nanometres. This produces a membrane with a porosity of at least 70 % and an average fibre diameter in the range of 0.43-1.60 µm, which is stored at 20-25˚C in a sealed container without access to moisture, reports AGH.