In Washington, D.C., an American University chemistry professor reports a simple, scalable method for incorporating cellulose nanocrystals into plastics that could enable the versatile material’s wider use.
“Plastics are currently reinforced with fillers made of steel, carbon, Kevlar, or glass,” says Douglas M. Fox. “There is an increasing demand in manufacturing for sustainable materials that are lightweight and strong to replace these fillers.” Fox employed ion exchange to combat several of the hurdles to incorporating cellulose nanocrystals within plastic. The method reduced water absorption that would otherwise have reduced the strength of the composite. It also increased the nanocrystal’s decomposition temperature, which had been a challenge for the blending process.
Fox is also collaborating with Georgia Institute of Technology and Owens Corning on replacing glass with cellulose nanocrystals in reinforced plastic used in airplanes, cars, and wind turbines, and with Vireo Advisors and the National Institute of Standards and Technology on verifying the safely of cellulose nanocrystals and nanofibers.
“As we continue to show these nanomaterials are safe, and make it easier to disperse them into a variety of materials, we get closer to utilizing nature’s chemically resistant, strong, and most abundant polymer in everyday products,” Fox says.