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| Europe | |
| Liquid Wood Is Plastic of Tomorrow, Say Scientists | |
| 2009-01-18 | |
| Plastic was one of the great innovations of the 20th century, but German scientists believe a new invention, liquid wood, could soon supplant the chemical in terms of everyday usefulness. Though it has proven to be extremely useful in the modern world, plastic still has a number of negative selling points. It is non-biodegradable and can contain carcinogens and other toxic substances that can cause cancer. It is also based on petroleum, a non-renewable resource that will soon be harder to come by. Increases in the price of crude oil leads to parallel rises in the price of plastics. But there is a new chemical invention that could do away with these long-standing concerns. Norbert Eisenreich, a senior researcher and deputy of directors at the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology (ICT) in Pfinztal, Germany, said his team of scientists have come up with a substance that could replace plastic: Arboform -- basically, liquid wood. It is derived from wood pulp-based lignin and can be mixed with a number of other materials to create a strong, non-toxic alternative to petroleum-based plastics, Eisenreich said, as reported by DPA news agency. This begs the question: What exactly is liquid wood? "The cellulose industry separates wood into its three main components -- lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose," ICT team leader Emilia Regina Inone-Kauffmann told DPA. "The lignin is not needed in papermaking, however. Our colleagues mix that lignin with fine natural fibers made of wood, hemp or flax and natural additives such as wax. From this, they produce plastic granulate that can be melted and injection-moulded."
The German researchers were able to reduce the sulphur content in Arborform by about 90 percent, making it much safer for use in everyday items. Bolstering Arboform's environmental credentials, Eisenreich's team also discovered that the substance was highly recyclable. "To find that out, we produced components, broke them up into small pieces, and re-processed the broken pieces -- 10 times in all. We did not detect any change in the material properties of the low-sulphur bio-plastic, so that means it can be recycled," said Inone-Kauffmann. | |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #7 "another name for alcohol in a pick-up bar?" They still have pick-up bars? I thought most of those disappeared in the 1990's. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2009-01-18 21:21 |
| #6 mhw, we've been doing that for many years at the chemical plant where I work. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2009-01-18 19:04 |
| #5 Even if this doesn't pan out, having other materials to make things with is always a plus. If it does work, even better. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2009-01-18 14:24 |
| #4 Only some synthetics are petroleum based. Nylon is made from coal, air and water; some polyesters are made from plant material. Toxicity is usually far less an issue than strength, durability, transparency and many other issues. A highly valuable synthetic wood would replicate rare hardwoods such as teak, which are both slow growing and in high demand, reducing their natural availability. Other, composite synthetic woods of high value would be in synthetic ironwoods, of various types, that would incorporate silicon, making them extremely strong and durable materials. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2009-01-18 12:43 |
| #3 Of course, even though wood is a renewable resource, some people object to cutting down trees for any purpose ( I guess they live in caves or something). |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2009-01-18 12:03 |
| #2 liquid wood? another name for alcohol in a pick-up bar? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2009-01-18 11:34 |
| #1 Plastic has been made out of wood in the US for some time in experimental quantities. The logistics of gathering the wood is a problem. The more interesting related question is making plastic from coal as part of a coal gasification process. If this technology could be significantly advanced, it would offset some of the gasification costs or the costs associated with carbon sequestration. |
| Posted by: mhw 2009-01-18 10:32 |