German company sells 'liquid wood'
2010-07-19 10:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
archerships
"Two German scientists invented "liquid wood," which has the potential to save significant fossil fuel and natural resources.
How about a renewable plastic that has wood-like qualities but can be cast by a machine? A group of scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology in Pfinztal near Karlsruhe invented just that in the late 1990s.
On a quest for more sustainable products, Juergen Pfitzer and Helmut Naegele worked with Norbert Eisenreich, Wilhelm Eckl and Emilia Inone-Kauffmann. The scientists found that lignin, a key ingredient in every piece of wood, can be "transformed" into a renewable plastic if it's mixed just the right way.
Lignin, combined with resins, flax and other natural fibers forms a mass that can be processed like any other thermoplastic material. The bio-plastic can be molded via injection machines, is durable and forms super-precise when it's cast. The bioplastic was called Arboform (arbor is Latin for tree)."