[Plastic] Researchers turn wood into plastic or use it in car manufacturing

Plastic is one of the largest pollution sources on the planet, and it takes hundreds of years to degrade naturally.

Yuan Yao, an assistant professor at the Yale School of Environment (YSE), and Liangbing Hu, a professor at the Materials Innovation Center at the University of Maryland, collaborated on research to deconstruct the porous matrix in natural wood into a slurry.

Yao said: "We have developed a simple and straightforward manufacturing process that can use wood to produce bio-based plastics and has good mechanical properties.

In order to make the slurry mixture, the researchers used wood chips (processing residues from wood mills) as raw materials and used a biodegradable and recyclable deep eutectic solvent (DES) to deconstruct the loose porous structure in the powder.

The researchers then conducted a comprehensive life cycle assessment to test the environmental impact of bioplastics and ordinary plastics.

Yao said: "The advantage of this plastic is that it can be completely recycled or biodegraded.

Professor Liangbing Hu said: This kind of bioplastics is widely used, for example, it can be molded into a film for use in plastic bags and packaging.

The team will continue to explore the impact of expanding production scale on forests, because large-scale production may require the use of large amounts of wood, which may have profound impacts on forests, land management, ecosystems, and climate change.

(Keyword: Plastic)