SINGAPORE – Professor Cho Nam-joon from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) does not want to recycle plastic, he wants to replace it – with pollen.

The materials scientist has spent about a decade studying and developing ways to harness sporopollenin, a natural substance that forms the outer shell of pollen, which is so tough that some have dubbed it the diamond of the natural world.

The biopolymer shields the genetic materials of plants, allowing them to withstand high temperatures, strong acids and even time, with pollen still found intact in fossils.

“While the technology is there to recycle plastic, people just aren’t doing it,” Prof Cho told The Straits Times, citing the high costs of recycling the man-made material, which can persist in the environment for hundreds of years.

“My aim is not to recycle plastic, but to replace plastic.”

Sporopollenin’s applications developed by a team led by Prof Cho include

biodegradable packaging

Harnessing the ability of sporopollenin to absorb ultraviolet (UV) rays, Prof Cho’s team pioneered its latest pollen-based invention: a cooling, natural sunscreen made with the pollen of camellia flowers that does not harm marine life.

He called the sunscreen his most relatable application of sporopollenin.

“Our research aims to develop a way to process pollen grains into a gel-like form so that they can be easily applied to human skin,” he said.

This builds on a similar application of using pollen to create a coating that cools cars by blocking out sun rays, said Prof Cho, the president’s chair in materials science and engineering at NTU.