Challenge to substitute plastic by developing extrudable clay-like wood fiber material

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K19287
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Forestry and Forest Products Science, Applied aquatic science, and related fields
• Research Institution: Mie University
• Principal Investigator: Nonaka Hiroshi 三重大学, 生物資源学研究科, 教授 (90422881)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-06-30 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 木質粘土 / 押出成形 / 可塑性 / セルロース / セルロース誘導体 / 木粉 / プラスチック代替

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Since the marine debris and the microplastic are regarded as serious problems, it is urgent to develop 100% plant-based biodegradable products. Wood, paper pulp, and straw are plant materials that do not compete with food, but they have no thermoplasticity and cannot be molded like plastics. In this study, wood was firstly made into fiber, and it was kneaded with a cellulosic thickener with water to develop a clay-like wood fiber material. We succeeded in molding a wood material with a shape that is difficult to make by ordinary cutting and found the possibility of replacing plastics. The pipe-shaped molded product "Wood Straw" won the Wood Design Award 2018, and was subsequently featured in many newspapers, WEB media, etc., and the originality and challenge of this research were greatly evaluated.

Free Research Field

林産化学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

木粉に，セルロース系増粘剤を用いて可塑性を持たせ，オールバイオマス成形品を成形するための学術的基礎を確立し，木粉のみならず竹粉，コーヒーかすなどにも適用できることを実証した。プラスチック製品の一部を，バイオマスそのものや，紙パルプで代替することは，化石資源代替，マテリアルリサイクル率の向上の観点より低炭素化に，また海洋のマイクロプラスチック問題の低減に寄与し，廃棄物バイオマスの利用促進につながるなど，様々なエネルギー・環境政策の課題解決に資する