Unit of Chemistry Teaching Education

University of Helsinki
Science Education Centre
LUMA Centre Finland

PLASTIC FROM MILK

FOCUS GROUP: This experiment can be done with all age groups and the theory can be fitted on
the knowledge level. When making the plastic with primary school students, you could talk about
networking and the networked structure of plastic in general. With them the theory doesn’t go too
deep and the milk should be warmed up by the teacher. With high school students, you could talk
about polymerization and how you can make a polymer from monomers. With upper secondary
level students, you could talk about how casein crosslinks and forms polymers. It can be done in
molecular and bond level.
LENGTH: 20 - 45 minutes
MOTIVATION: You want to make a present for your friend, but you don’t know what to make
them. Here is a guide how to make jewelry or a refrigerator magnet from milk!
OBJECTIVE: To understand everyday chemistry phenomena and to understand industrial
processes on a small scale. Understanding the chemical structure of plastics.
TEYWORDS: Proteins – Denaturation – Polymers – Acidity – Everyday chemistry

Finland’s first plastic factory started operating in 1921 in Tampere. This factory produced plastic
from milk. The plastic was used to making buttons. Its strength was a low fire sensitivity, but the
challenge with it was that it had a low moisture resistance.
Eventually, the casein plastic was replaced by synthetic thermoplastics that came on the market in
the 1950s and 1960s.

BACKROUND INFORMATION

Plastic has gradually become an indispensable assistant for out everyday lives. It is
lightweight, inexpensive, pleasant to touch and possible to use for almost any purpose.

Plastics are mainly polymers. Polymers are long chained molecules in which the same
base structure is repeated many times. One molecule may be composed of 1 000 to
100 000 smaller building blocks so called monomers. Polymers can be divided into
natural polymers and synthetic polymers. Starch, keratin and DNA are examples of
natural polymers. Synthetic polymers are industrially manufactured polymers such as
polyethylene. Polyethylene is the most commonly used synthetic polymer in the world
and is used e.g. in plastic bags.

In this experiment the casein plastic is made from proteins in milk. Proteins are
polymers consisting of amino acids. The proteins in milk can be modified e.g. with
heat and acids. Heat modifies, denatures, the structure of whey proteins in milk and
acid causes the casein proteins to attach to each another with whey protein bridges.
This creates a protein structure which, when dried, hardens into casein plastic.
 Unit of Chemistry Teaching Education
University of Helsinki
Science Education Centre
LUMA Centre Finland

Now you will learn how to make plastic at home!

Did you know: When a protein is denatured, its three-dimensional structure changes
and the protein loses its biological activity. A familiar reaction of this is when you
boil an egg. The heat modifies the structure of the proteins in the egg so that the
initially liquid egg becomes solid.

PREMILITARY QUESTIONS FOR STUDENTS

What objects are made out of plastic?

Why are the products you mentioned made out of plastic?

Describe what kind of material is plastic.

What raw materials are used by industries when making plastic?

SUPPLIES

A saucepan or other heat

SAFETY AND WASTE MANAGEMENT
resistant container/dish.
A spoon Use a lab coat and goggles.
A graduated measuring
cylinder Vinegar is an acid, corrosive substance, rinse
A thermometer spatter with plenty of water.
A hotplate

REAGENTS

Fresh nonfat milk

Vinegar
Food coloring
 Unit of Chemistry Teaching Education
University of Helsinki
Science Education Centre
LUMA Centre Finland

INSTRUCTIONS

Measure 200 ml of milk and pour it into the saucepan.

If you want colorful plastic, add a few drops of food coloring.

Heat the milk carefully up to 50-60 °C (if the temperature rises above 60 degrees,
milk will quickly burn to the bottom!).

When the milk is warm, take the saucepan out from the hotplate and add 10 ml of
vinegar to the milk and stir.

WHAT CAN YOU OBSERVE?

Lift the plastic with a spoon onto a paper towel and shape it to the shape you want.
You can glue a magnet to the back of your plastic to make a great refrigerator
magnet.

QUESTIONS AFTER THE WORK

When does a similar type of reaction occur in milk, where lumps are formed?
As the milk ages, lactic acid begins to accumulate in the milk. Lactic acid bacteria
break down lactose and lactic acid is formed. This makes the pH level lower and
makes the proteins lose their negative charge, making them more soluble to water.

Why does acid change the water solubility of casein micelles?

Acid neutralizes the negative charge of casein micelles so that they no longer interact
with water. This makes the proteins separate from the milk into its own phase.

What happens to human proteins if the body temperature rises too high?
High fever is dangerous to humans. At a temperature above 42 degrees human
proteins begin to denature, lose their functional three-dimensional shape.
 Unit of Chemistry Teaching Education
University of Helsinki
Science Education Centre
LUMA Centre Finland

CHEMISTRY BEHIND THIS EXPERIMENT

In recent years the theory of this plastic has been the subject of many debates in the
scientific community. According to recent research, the theory behind this experiment
is the following:

Milk contains two types of protein: casein (about 80 %) and whey (about 20 %).
Proteins are long chains of amino acids that may contain 100 to 100 000 amino acids
attached to each other. We know that there are 20 different amino acids.

There are four different types of casein protein: αS1 -casein, αS2 -casein, β-casein and
κ-casein.

Caseins are organized into micelles, so that the inner parts of the micelle are
predominantly hydrophobic (lipophilic) like αS1 -caseins, αS2 -caseins and β-caseins. On
the outer part of the micelle are the hydrophilic (water soluble) κ-caseins. The micelle
maintains its form because of calcium phosphate clusters in the middle.
 Unit of Chemistry Teaching Education
University of Helsinki
Science Education Centre
LUMA Centre Finland

κ-caseins have a negatively charged tail part, which is ‘’hang’’ outside the micelles.
These tail parts look like hairs and they make the casein micelles water soluble. As a
result of the negative charge, the casein micelles repel each other. In milk, the micelles
are surrounded by water molecules.

Milk also contains whey proteins: beta-lactoglobulin, alpha-lactalbumin and

immunoglobulins. In addition, milk contains also various enzymes. When milk is
heated, whey proteins are denatured, meaning that their three-dimensional shape is
broken. Denaturation breaks the hydrogen bonds that hold the three-dimensional
structure of the protein and opens the disulfide bridges.

When acid is added to heated milk, the positively charged protons of the acid first
neutralize the negative charges on the ‘’hairs’’ of casein micelles, making them less
soluble in water. This enables the casein micelles to get even closer to one another.
Under the influence of acid, calcium phosphate clusters that strengthen the structure of
the micelle are released from the inside of the micelle.
 Unit of Chemistry Teaching Education
University of Helsinki
Science Education Centre
LUMA Centre Finland

The broken disulfide bridges from the denatured whey proteins are starting to look for
a new pair to form a new disulfide bridge. Whey proteins bind with disulfide bridges
onto the casein micelle’s surface, forming a protein network.

The more whey proteins bind between the casein micelles, the stronger casein plastic is
formed. Cheese is made of a similar protein network. In fact, plastic form milk is
cheese!