BIOPLASTICS | MATERIALS
dry food, snacks, confectionery and pet food. It is suitable for both rotogravure and flexographic printing and can be made at Emsur facilities worldwide. Emsur says that the concept could be adapted for other applications or structures – includ- ing both flexible and rigid formats.
Alternative foam Researchers at Washington State University in the USA have developed a bio-based alterna- tive to polystyrene foam, which they claim offers superior insulating performance. The foam is made mostly from nanocrystals of cellulose – the most abundant plant material. The researchers have also developed a manufacturing process to make the foam, which uses water as a solvent. The researchers say that other cellulose-based foams cannot compete with polystyrene foam – in terms of strength, insulation, and their resistance to temperature and humidity.
The WSU team created a material
that is made of about 75% cellulose nanocrystals from wood pulp. They added polyvinyl alcohol – which bonds with the nanocellulose crystals and makes the resultant foam more elastic. The material has a uniform cellular structure, which makes it a good insulator. This is the first time that a plant-based foam has sur- passed the insulation capabili- ties of polystyrene foam, said the researchers. It is also lightweight and can support up
to 200 times its weight without changing shape. “We have used an easy method to make high-performance, composite foams based on nanocrystalline cellulose with an excellent combi- nation of thermal insulation capability and mechan- ical properties,” said Amir Ameli, assistant profes- sor in the school of mechanical and materials engineering, who co-led the research. Details of the work are published in the journal Carbohydrate Polymers.
Left: Emsur’s three-layer compostable bag has a high barrier
performance
�
STARextruder for PET processing • Efficient extrusion for low and medium output ranges • Machine sizes of 90, 120 and 150 mm • Bottle flake processing to food grade thermoforming sheet
Let‘s get the act together and meet the challenges of the future – Process engineering for efficient plastics extrusion of tomorrow.
www.battenfeld-cincinnati.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50
