Microbial Cellulose as a versatile platform mono material

2014, the designer and artist couple Bernhard Schipper and Carolin Wendel have been researching microbial cellulose with their two companies, ScobyTec and SCTM, respectively. With their new company, SCTM, the two also act as consultants to industry. Microbial cellulose as a platform monomaterial enables novel high-performance materials that are free of fossil ingredients and fully recyclable. As designers, Bernhard Schipper and Carolin Wendel always see the finished product rather than the semi-finished product. Therefore, in the past, functional prototypes were always created in parallel with material development. In the early years, the focus of their research was the development of vegan leather alternatives based on microbial cellulose. It quickly became clear that novel and sustainable materials can only be successful in the market if they can be scaled up sufficiently and quickly. In parallel with industrial scaling, they worked on a broader portfolio – such as lightweight materials for the automotive and aerospace industries and fiber reinforcement for fully degradable bioplastics. Last year, the use of waste materials from industry and agriculture as a carbohydrate source came into play to create completely sustainable specialty applications for industrial use. Bernhard Schipper, using the company development of ScobyTec and SCTM as an example, demonstrates the potential of microbial cellulose as a sustainable and industrially scalable building block of a future-oriented and circular consumer goods industry