Bio-e-Nails come in all shapes and colors. (Credit: Living Matter Lab)
In a nutshell
Bio-e-Nails are biodegradable, interactive artificial nails made from algae- and shell-based materials like agar and chitosan, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional acrylics that pollute landfills and release microplastics.
These nails can be customized with NFC chips and pigments, enabling smart features like sending a text with your location or changing color in sunlight or heat to blend beauty, tech, and function.
Designed for short-term wear, Bio-e-Nails embrace a full product lifecycle approach, with simple at-home fabrication, reuse potential, and end-of-life options like composting or dismantling for electronic recovery.
BOULDER, Colo. — The nail salon of the future might smell like seaweed instead of acrylic. Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have created “Bio-e-Nails,” biodegradable artificial nails that not only look good but can send text messages and change color with temperature or sunlight. With traditional artificial nails piling up in landfills and releasing microplastics into our environment, this is a radical reimagining of beauty tech.
The research, published in the TEI ’25 conference proceedings, presents customizable, interactive artificial nails made from materials like agar (from algae) and chitosan (from seashells). These Bio-e-Nails differ significantly from conventional beauty tech, which typically combines electronics with plastics and other materials that don’t break down, creating disposal problems.
The Environmental Impact of Traditional Nail Products
The beauty industry, especially the nail sector, faces many environmental and health issues. Traditional artificial nails contain chemicals like methyl methacrylate that can irritate eyes when inhaled, while solvents like acetone and toxic glues pose additional health risks. The microplastics created when filing down acrylic nails harm the environment, too. Bio-e-Nails try to solve these problems by using naturally derived materials that decompose more easily.
Bio-e-Nails in a range of styles. (Credit: Living Matter Lab)
Many consumers might not think of nail enhancements as “technology,” but the beauty tech field has been growing rapidly. Recent innovations include eyelashes with conductive coatings and acrylic nails with embedded NFC chips, but these advances often neglect sustainability concerns. The researchers noticed this gap and created something that balances functionality, looks, and environmental responsibility.
Unlike conventional artificial nails designed to last 1-2 weeks through daily activities including showering, Bio-e-Nails are meant for shorter, single-use occasions like special events or parties. This focus on temporary wear allowed the team to explore more sustainable material options without needing the same durability as long-term nail enhancements.
How Bio-e-Nails Work
The process for making Bio-e-Nails varies depending on the base material. For agar-based nails, the researchers created a bioplastic by mixing agar with water and vegetable glycerin, then shaped the material into thin sheets that could be layered together. The chitosan-based method involved creating a solution with chitosan, water, and vinegar, which was then poured into molds.
The research team placed NFC chips between layers of the bioplastic, allowing the nails to perform simple functions when tapped against a smartphone. For example, they programmed some prototypes to send the wearer’s location to a friend via text message. This is potentially useful in situations where the wearer might not be able to speak or type, such as during a medical emergency or at the end of a late-night party.
Other customizations included adding pigments that change color in sunlight (potentially serving as a UV exposure reminder) and materials that respond to temperature changes. These interactive elements transform these nail enhancements from purely aesthetic accessories into functional wearable technology that remains environmentally conscious.
Beyond Use: The Complete Lifecycle Approach
Bio-e-Nails are designed for short-term use, making them ideal for a night out. (Credit: Living Matter Lab)
The research covers not only the creation of these sustainable nails but also what happens when they’re no longer needed. The team explored three different disposal methods: chemical breakdown (using water for agar-based nails or vinegar for chitosan-based ones), mechanical disassembly (peeling apart layers to recover embedded electronics), and biological decomposition (composting). This approach allows users to either completely biodegrade the nails or recover and reuse electronic components.
The nails can also be reused, making them even more sustainable. By applying a small amount of vinegar to a used nail and briefly heating it, they could reshape the material into a new nail, keeping properties like thermochromic color-changing abilities. The researchers also used readily available ingredients and simple assembly to ensure their approach could be adopted by designers and users without specialized equipment.
Rethinking Beauty Standards Through Sustainable Design
Innovations like Bio-e-Nails point to a future where beauty enhancements don’t have to harm the environment. The current prototypes do have shorter lifespans and don’t look exactly the same as traditional artificial nails, but the researchers see these as acceptable trade-offs for the sustainability of the design. The agar-based nails worked better when kept short, while the chitosan-based versions offered improved strength but required more complex production.
This research also challenges conventional beauty standards by embracing variation and imperfection. Instead of industrial uniformity, Bio-e-Nails show natural differences in consistency and texture, potentially redefining expectations for beauty products.
Beauty doesn’t have to come at the expense of the environment. This move toward sustainable beauty might get people thinking about the planet as much as their polish, changing the way we see beauty tech altogether.
Paper Summary
Methodology
The researchers developed two formulations for Bio-e-Nails: agar-based and chitosan-based. For agar nails, they created a mixture of agar, water, and vegetable glycerin that was heated, poured onto a flat surface, cured for 2-3 days, cut into pieces, layered, and heat-pressed with an iron. Plastic nail forms were used to shape the material, which was then finalized with an electric nail file. For chitosan nails, they mixed chitosan with water and vinegar, heated the solution in a water bath, cooled it for 24 hours, and poured it into custom clay molds shaped around conventional artificial nails. After 48 hours of drying, these nails were removed and shaped. Both methods allowed for customization through colorants, interactive pigments, and embedded NFC chips.
Results
Both bioplastic formulations created viable artificial nails with different performance characteristics. Agar-based nails showed greater flexibility but less water resistance, while chitosan-based nails demonstrated superior hardness and water resistance. The embedded NFC chips functioned as intended, allowing for programmed interactions with smartphones. Thermochromic and photochromic pigments successfully changed color in response to temperature and light. End-of-life testing confirmed biodegradability, with agar nails decomposing in approximately 60 days and chitosan nails in 33 days under composting conditions. The team proved that electronic components could be successfully recovered for reuse, and the bioplastic materials themselves could be reformed into new nails.
Limitations
The prototype Bio-e-Nails had several limitations compared to conventional artificial nails. Their shorter lifespan and sensitivity to water and heat restricted them to temporary, special-occasion use rather than everyday wear. The agar-based nails performed better when kept short, as longer versions tended to bend. Chitosan-based nails required more complex fabrication techniques including higher temperatures and heat gun shaping. From a user perspective, the nails required adjustment to different weight, texture, and fragility characteristics. The interactive functionality of NFC-embedded nails was limited by a short 2.5 cm communication range, restricting practical use to certain fingers. The research team’s expertise in biomaterials might also present a barrier to replication by complete beginners, though they noted a new lab member successfully reproduced their results.
Discussion and Takeaways
Bio-e-Nails demonstrate how sustainable design principles can transform beauty technology by considering product lifecycle from creation to disposal. The researchers emphasized democratizing beauty technology through accessible materials and simple fabrication methods, allowing for customization that balances function, aesthetics, and environmental impact. Their approach challenges conventional beauty standards by embracing natural variation rather than industrial uniformity. The three end-of-life strategies—chemical, mechanical, and biological—illustrate how temporary products can be designed with thoughtful disposal options that recover components or return materials to the environment. This research has broader implications for wearable technology and other disposable products, suggesting that closed-loop systems that prioritize material reuse and biodegradation could replace conventional linear consumption models.
Funding and Disclosures
The paper doesn’t specifically mention funding sources or disclosures. The research was conducted at the University of Colorado Boulder through the ATLAS Institute and Computer Science department, suggesting institutional support for the work.
Publication Information
This research was published as “Bio-e-Nails: a Sustainable Design Approach to Biobased Nail Interfaces” for the TEI ’25 (Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction) conference scheduled for March 4-7, 2025, in Bordeaux/Talence, France. The authors are Eldy S. Lazaro Vasquez, Sepideh Mohammadi, Latifa Al Naimi, Shira David, and Mirela Alistar from the University of Colorado Boulder.