Green bio composites

Inspiration

In 2016 a research paper link went viral, it's objective was to study the potential uses of a new ultra bio composite - transparent wood. It inspired a few youtube videos, which is how I found out a bout it, it has been in the back of my head ever since.

What it does

What the paper focused on was it's optical properties, so it was mostly considered as a glass substitute for it's shatter resistance. Where our research differs, is that we focused on it's structural abilities, we believe it could become a cheaper and, more importantly, a greener alternative to pure polymers, mainly through reduction of actual polymer used.

How we (will) built it

Secret recipe for the first "feasible today" cellulose biocomposite of this style:

1. Common wood used in construction(pine, maple, birch, etc) is machined to a size of 1mm thick plates.
2. The wood is placed in a bath of dilute peracetic acid(the greenest and safest chemical reagent studied for the purpose of delignification) for 3h, The acid attacks the chemically weaker lignin, the weakest component of wood, which acts as a binding agent - keeping the wood itself together.
3. What is left is a cellulose "skeleton", interestingly, cellulose and hemicellulose is completely white, which turns to transparent when soaked with a polymer.
4. The product is dried by heating or submerging in organic solvents.
5. It is then placed in a vacuum chamber with the polymer precursor, the vacuum forces residual air stuck in the very porous cellulose allowing the resin to take it's place.
6. Polymerization(heating to 70 degrees celsius in the case of PMMA (acrylic, which is quite suitable for this process)
   
7. Depending on the arrangement of the wooden plates, different mechanical properties are obtained(see Plywood, for further information). ## Challenges we ran into The process is quite simple but there are environmental hazards and health risks associated with the common ways similar processes in industry are performed. Although we stumbled upon a research paper testing peracetic acid for use in the paper industry(the same process). There were other hurdles, namely future issues, like scaling this process and remaining true to the idea of a greener future material. ## Accomplishments that we're proud of We came up with many new innovative ideas related to and surrounding this idea, also it seemed wild to us, that the research was already done, just in the form of breadcrumbs from vastly different fields and forms of chemistry. ## What we learned We learned that this is not only a possibility for the future that has no potential, but possibly a revolutionary material, especially since all sorts of polymers are soaring in prices. We feel our research is in the right place and the right time. ## What's next for Green bio composites The sky's the limit. We're not bound to the polymer or framework used. There are many opportunities for academia and industry to advance this topic further, for instance using chitin based fungi, instead of cellulose based plants, the are practical tests to be done to see how far we can push these and new potential frameworks.

Built With

• blood
• sweat
• tears