Renewable Materials
The Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence promotes the application of green and sustainable technologies, particularly those that can be used to deliver products that meet consumer and legislation requirements.
Novel materials from renewable resources is an important area of research in the Centre. Utilising naturally abundant resources and in particular agricultural and food by-products, we have developed a range of materials which take full advantage of the chemical composition, rich functionality and structure in plant metabolites and other biomass.
In addition to basic research pioneered in this area, we collaborate in and lead major industrial consortia projects to deliver products for a range of industrial applications. Selected case studies of technologies are illustrated below.
Bio-Boards Project
Multi-partner collaborative industrial project focused on the development of green structural panels, wholly based on agricultural by-products. The project applies biorefinery concepts to generate materials, energy and chemical products from renewable recourses.
It aims to develop generic methodologies applicable to a variety of raw materials, reducing feedstock dependence, impact on biodiversity and providing added value to farmers.
Structural panels used in furniture and construction industries are made of wood bound with synthetic organic resin. Availability of FSC certified wood is limited and the binders, typically formaldehyde/isocynate-based, are toxic/harmful in production and/or use.
(1) Aggregate: Lignocellulosic plant residues avoid the need for FSC virgin wood
(2) Binder: New bio-derived inorganic silicates, generated from waste biomass combustion ashes, are a chemical product with many applications; they provide non-toxic, non-volatile, chemically and biologically resistant and inherently fire-retardant binder.
(3) Hardener: Suitable chemical functionalities can be naturally present/derived in situ in the aggregate or sourced from by-products of bio-fuels production.
SWIFT Switchable Adhesives
A multi-partner industrial project on development of green switchable adhesives for carpet tiles. In the UK alone 53,000 t p.a. of carpet tiles are manufactured.
With current adhesives used in the product, components are not separable and therefore not recyclable. Over 90% of post-consumer tiles and waste from manufacture end up in landfill sites. Modified starch switchable adhesives developed in this project enable separation and recycling of components providing a green alternative to currently used synthetic polymers. The new adhesives have excellent mechanical performance and additionally are flame resistant removing the need for auxiliary flame retardant chemicals.