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New method for modifying products containing wood fibres developed in Finland
23.01.2008
Potential for new product properties in the biocomposite, paper and packaging industries
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has developed a method that opens up new opportunities for the use of lignin-containing wood fibres and other natural fibres as well as fibre products. The method offers an innovative, environmentally friendly approach to customize or even to introduce completely new properties – such as moisture repellency or electric conductivity – to fibre-containing products.
The new chemo-enzymatic modification method of fibre materials enables
manufacturers to better tailor the fibre properties according to the desired
end product. The method can be used to enhance the original properties or even
to introduce new properties to lignin-containing fibre materials. To achieve
the desired modification, suitable chemical compounds are attached to the
material in a chemical or enzymatic process.
Wood fibre
products are moisture absorbent by nature. The new method makes it possible to
control the moisture resistance properties of lignin-containing fibre
materials even to a degree where they become water-resistant. This opens up
new opportunities for the use of wood fibres e.g. in the packaging industry.
Manufacturers
in branches of industry such as the biocomposites, building and speciality
paper and packaging industries, utilising materials containing lignocellulosic
fibres in composite structures, can benefit from VTT’s method for developing
various product properties. For example, the process can be used to make
antistatic filter papers.
VTT’s chemo-enzymatic method
differs from the available chemical modifications in its surface targeted and
gentle action. It can also easily be integrated in existing manufacturing and
finishing processes of fibres and fibre materials.
”Chemo-enzymatic
fibre modification creates new opportunities for the processing of existing
fibre products and for manufacturing innovative, tailored fibre products in
the paper and packaging process. In the future, tailored wood fibres may
present a viable alternative for example to synthetic fibres in various
industrial composites,” says Anna Suurnäkki, Senior Research Scientist at VTT.
Further
information:
VTT, Anna
Suurnäkki, Senior Research Scientist
tel. +358 20 722 7178