Wood into Plastic
Cont ' d from P . 23
natural environment , and has a lower lifecycle environmental impact when compared with petroleum-based plastics and other biodegradable plastics .
“ There are many people who have tried to develop these kinds of polymers in plastic , but the mechanical strands are not good enough to replace the plastics we currently use , which are made mostly from fossil fuels ,” says Yao . “ We ’ ve developed a straightforward and simple manufacturing process that generates biomass-based plastics from wood , but also plastic that delivers good mechanical properties as well .”
To create the slurry mixture , the researchers used a wood powder — a processing residue usually discarded as waste in lumber mills — and deconstructed the loose , porous structure of the powder with a biodegradable and recyclable deep eutectic solvent ( DES ). The resulting mixture , which features nanoscale entanglement and hydrogen bonding between the regenerated lignin and cellulose micro / nanofibrils , has a high solid content and high viscosity , which can be casted and rolled without breaking .
Yao then led a comprehensive life cycle assessment to test the environmental impacts of the bioplastic against commons plastics . Sheets of the bioplastic were buried in soil , fracturing after two weeks and completely degrading after three months ; additionally , researchers say the bioplastic can be broken back down into the slurry by mechanical stirring , which also allows for the DES to be recovered and reused .
“ That , to me , is what really makes this plastic good : It can all be recycled or biodegraded ,” says Yao . “ We ’ ve minimized all of the materials and the waste going into nature .”
The bioplastic has numerous applications , says Liangbing Hu , a professor at the Center for Materials Innovation at the University of Maryland and co-author of the paper . It can be molded into a film that can be used in plastic bags and packaging — one of the major uses of plastic and causes of waste production . Hu also says that because the bioplastic can be molded into different shapes , it has potential for use in automobile manufacturing , as well .
One area the research team continues to investigate is the potential impact on forests if the manufacturing of this bioplastic is scaled up . While the process currently uses wood byproducts in
24 WESTERN PALLET