A chemistry class assignment about household rubbish took two American high-school students into a problem that usually sits well outside the school curriculum. Aditya Herekar, from Edison, New Jersey, and Karan Verma, from Frisco, Texas, began looking at what happens to a coffee capsule after it has been used. Their work eventually led to a new pod material, a patent application and a published research paper. The pair developed Naturista, a coffee capsule made from pullulan, a food-grade polysaccharide that can dissolve or biodegrade instead of leaving behind a conventional plastic shell. Their project also reached the Mott Million Dollar Challenge, where the students won $25,000 for their work.
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