A group of students of the Panchayat Union Middle School in Tamil Nadu have been using eco-friendly pens in an effort to check the usage of plastic materials.
A majority of the students use the use-and-throw plastic pens available in the market, which badly affect the environment.
Plantain leaf, papaya leaf stem, coconut leaf, and castor stem are used as body of the pen. They have fixed the nib at one end of the stem, and closed the other end using maida starch to hold the ink.
The plant toxin ricin is one of the most poisonous naturally occurring proteins, making it an extremely dangerous bioweapon. Scientists have been searching for an effective ricin antidote for decades. However, cytotoxins like ricin also provide important insights into the molecular characteristics of cells, such as the contact points the poison uses to enter cells. 
IMBA researchers have now discovered that sugar is a key factor. The researchers identified two genes that make ricin so lethal. Fut9 and Slc35c1 regulate metabolism of a particular sugar in cells, an essential monosaccharide called fucose.
Super-tough materials derived from inedible plants are lightweight, renewable and strong enough to use in vehicles
A new polymer blend made from castor beans is stronger and lighter than conventional structural materials, and researchers say it could improve the safety and fuel efficiency of cars.
Castor beans are notorious for containing the poison ricin, but it’s possible to turn them into polyamide 11, a thermoplastic from the nylon family of polymers. Now, scientists from Japan have developed a super-strong polymer blend by mixing polyamide 11 with the common household plastic polypropylene, that could replace many of the plastics we use today.
Castor oil is one of the most commonly used oils that can improve the physical condition of the body, gives strength and beauty.
Here are some of the major uses of castor oil which everyone should know.
Researchers from India prepared castor oil polyurethane from pre-polymer oftoluene diisocyanate (TDI) and castor oil with dibutyl tin dilaurate (DBTDL) catalyst. Water was used as blowing agent. The rate of forming was increased by increasing catalyst and water content. On other hand the cell size of the PU decreased with increasing amount of the catalyst and water content.
Characterization studies were performed to analyse the properties of synthesized foam.
Scientists from China synthesized hybrid polyurethanes with double-decker silsesquioxane (DDSQ) using castor oil and isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) as feedstock. Double-decker octaphenyl silsesquioxanetetraol (DDSQ) was prepared and characterized 
by spectroscopy.
Results showed that with the inclusion of DDSQ, the hydrophobicity of the hybrid material was significantly improved.
EAI, the parent company of CastorOil.in, had been studying the bioplastics industry for the past few years and in the recent past we had the opportunity to look at the sector, in India and worldwide at close quarters.
Based on these, we have put together an exclusive team to provide strategic and market consulting for the global bioplastics industry.
If you are interested in the bioplastics sector and the opportunities it presents, see here to know how the Bioplastics Guide can help you get a strategic understanding of the bioplastics market.
The Bioplastics Guide, an initiative by EAI, is a focussed consulting and market research division for the global bioplastics and biopolymers sectors.
The Guide has an interesting section that provides an overview of the end use segments and applications for bioplastics.
Get to know more about the current and emerging end use segments for bioplastics from this page @ the Bioplastics Guide.
Scientists from India performed esterification of furfuryl alcohol and castor oil fatty acid at 3:1 molar ratio, by immobilized Candida antarctica Lipase B in a solvent free system. A maximum yield of ester was obtained. Performance of the FA-COFA ester plasticized Ethyl Cellulose (EC) films were evaluated by certain characteristic studies.
Results showed that the furfuryl alcohol-castor oil fatty acid ester with significant plasticizing property at a certain concentration could act as a substitute for traditional plasticizer dibutyl phthalate.
Researchers performed an experiment where castor oil, ethyl ester were prepared by 
transesterification using potassium hydroxide (KOH) as a catalyst and tested on a four-stroke, single-cylinder compression ignition engine. The test was carried out at a constant speed of 3000 rpm at different loads.
The results represent a substantial decrease in carbon monoxide (CO) emission with an increasing biodiesel percentage.