Arboform is a material made from wood components mixed with fibers and natural additives to produce a material that can be used to create products that are currently made of plastics derived from firewood.
"The pulp industry separates wood into its three main components – lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose," said ICT team leader Emilia Regina Inone-Kauffmann DPA. "Lignin is not necessary in papermaking. We combine lignin with fine natural wood fibers, hemp or flax and natural additives such as wax. From this a plastic granulate is produced that can be melted and molded by injection. "
Making plastic with lignin is a method that has been used for some time, but has been reserved for auto parts and other limited uses due to the high concentration of sulfur. Arboform is the first lignin-based plastic material that has a low sulfur content sufficient to make it worth considering a wider range of consumer uses.
Not only is the Arboform a possible replacement for traditional plastics, but it is also highly recyclable. "To find out, we've produced the components, broken them into small pieces, and reprocessed the broken pieces, 10 times. No change in the properties of the low-sulfur bio-plastic material was detected, meaning it can be recycled," Inone-Kauffmann said.
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Authors: Val
