Photo/Illutration The new type of gloves developed by the trio of students (Provided by Tokyo Metropolitan Tama High School of Science and Technology)

Three Tokyo high school students have created recyclable gloves using a fiber found in seaweed slime, an innovation that has earned them a prestigious award and high-fives from professional researchers.

The trio of third-year students at Tokyo Metropolitan Tama High School of Science and Technology in Koganei, western Tokyo, won the Denka prize, a major award at the Japan Science & Engineering Challenge (JSEC) 2023.

JSEC is a scientific research competition for high school and technical college students organized by The Asahi Shimbun Co. and TV Asahi Corp.

The gloves were developed by Shuhei Otsuka, Takumi Kaneko and Reo Nishihira.

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From left, Denka Co. Managing Executive Officer Nobuyuki Yoshino, Shuhei Otsuka, Takumi Kaneko, Reo Nishihira and Denka executive officer Hideki Toya in Machida, western Tokyo, on March 8 (Tsuyoshi Murakami)

The trio focused their research on alginic acid, a dietary fiber that causes sliminess in seaweeds such as tangle and “wakame.”

The students initially tried to make plastic from alginic acid, but the task proved to be difficult.

In autumn 2022, Nishihira playfully dipped his finger into an aqueous solution of sodium alginate and then into an aqueous solution of calcium chloride—and found the digit tightly covered by a gel-like layer of transparent, gooey calcium alginate.

The three students thought that their discovery could be used to make gloves that could fit anyone’s hands perfectly.

They surveyed more than 120 workers who used gloves in the restaurant, nursing care and other industries and set the goal of developing comfortable and practical gloves.

The students repeatedly made prototypes by experimenting with different aqueous solution concentrations and succeeded in making gloves that are strong enough to endure various tasks.

The ingredients in the gloves contain abundant water content, so the wearer’s hands are shielded from the heat and cold and don’t feel stuffy.

The gloves are recyclable because they revert to the original sodium alginate when they are soaked in an aqueous solution of sodium carbonate.

On March 8, the students were invited to visit a research facility of Denka Co., the chemical manufacturer that awarded the prize.

They toured Denka’s Innovation Center in Machida, western Tokyo, and were awarded a certificate of merit.

“The way you conducted a survey and tried to meet demand is wonderful,” Nobuyuki Yoshino, Denka’s managing executive officer, told the students. “I hope you will keep progressing with this for a long time, even though you will have to keep experimenting and making mistakes.”

Kaneko said, “I wished many times to give up on this, but I have managed to stay the course because I saw how other students marveled at our experiments.” 

Otsuka said, “I hope we can improve the thickness and strength, and develop commercial products like, for example, antimicrobial gloves and moisturizing gloves.” 

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