The thinnest spaghetti in the world has been created by researchers in London. Sadly, the pasta isn't meant to be eaten. Instead, they will be used for medicinal and industrial purposes.
The pasta consists of thin, threadlike fibers that are 200 times thinner than human hair. It is the next big step forward in the development of sustainable nanomaterials.
The starchy creation holds a lot of promise as an environmentally friendly and effective approach. It could be used in bandages to help wounds heal, as scaffolding for bone regeneration, and for drug delivery.
Traditionally, starch nanofibers rely on a process that involves the extraction of starch from plant cells, a method that requires a lot of water and energy.
The new version is more sustainable and uses regular cooking flour from a grocery store. In the new study, the research team described how they made spaghetti just 372 nanometers across through electrospinning, a technique that uses electrical currents to develop extremely thin fibers.
"To make spaghetti, you push a mixture of water and flour through metal holes. In our study, we did the same, except we pulled our flour mixture through with an electrical charge. It's literally spaghetti but much smaller," said Adam Clancy, a co-author of the study.
But instead of water, the team mixed the flour with formic acid. The acid dissolves the complex structures that make up starch molecules to form very thin fibers. Then, it evaporates as the noodles stream out to a metal plate that is used in the electrospinning process.
The researchers also had to warm up the mixture for several hours and slowly cool it back down to ensure that it was of the correct consistency.
The second thinnest known pasta is called su filindeu, or "threads of God." A paster maker creates it by hand in the town of Nuoro, Sardinia. It is estimated at approximately 400 microns wide, which is 1,000 times thicker than the new electrospun spaghetti.
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At 372 nanometers, the "nanopasta" is narrower than some wavelengths of light. Each individual strand is too thin to be seen by any type of visible light camera or microscope, so a scanning electron microscope had to be employed to measure their widths.
Because it's so thin, the creation would overcook in under a second before it's even removed from the pan. So, it would not make very good pasta to eat. However, nanofibers made from flour could revolutionize the medical and industrial fields.
"Starch is a promising material to use as it is abundant and renewable -- it is the second largest source of biomass on Earth, behind cellulose -- and it is biodegradable, meaning it can be broken down in the body," said Clancy.
"But purifying starch requires a lot of processing. We've shown that a simpler way to make nanofibers using flour is possible. The next step would be to investigate the properties of this product."