Ice has a fatal flaw—it melts. That puddle at the bottom of your cooler or the slush in a seafood case isn’t just messy, it can spread contamination, ruin food, and waste energy. Now researchers at UC Davis have flipped the script with a breakthrough material: jelly ice—a reusable, compostable, and customizable substitute that stays solid without turning into a watery disaster.
Made from gelatin, the same stuff that makes Jell-O jiggle, jelly ice traps water inside a hydrogel matrix that holds its shape even after repeated freeze-thaw cycles. It’s 90% water, food-safe, and just as effective as traditional ice for cooling—up to 80% of the efficiency—but unlike ice, it doesn’t leave a mess when it warms up.
That makes it a potential game-changer for industries that rely on temperature control, from grocery stores and food shipping to medication and biotech transport. Imagine seafood cases without contaminated meltwater, vaccines that travel without bulky gel packs, or shipping containers cooled without wasting gallons of water.
Even more intriguing: when composted, jelly ice actually improved plant growth in early experiments. Instead of leaving behind plastic waste like conventional gel packs, this material vanishes back into the soil. And because it can be molded into any shape, it can slip neatly into spaces where traditional ice or dry ice can’t go.
The research team is already exploring new protein-based variations—like soy protein—for coatings and lab-grown meat scaffolds. In other words, jelly ice may just be the beginning of a much larger shift in how we use natural biopolymers to solve problems that ice, plastics, and synthetic materials never could.
For the first time in centuries, we might be looking at a future where “ice” doesn’t melt at all.
Related stories:
- Engineered Hydrogels Promise Breakthroughs in Food Packaging
- Biodegradable Cooling Materials Could Replace Plastic Gel Packs
