Materials and technologies - April 2019
Alternatives for plastic packaging
A new type of highly transparent nanopaper with UV-blocking functionality has the potential to become an alternative for plastic packaging materials. Physicists from Utrecht University developed the fully biobased material together with Unilever and the University of Amsterdam. The work is published in ACS Applied Polymer Materials (4.86 MB). Researchers from The Ohio State University have also been working on an alternative for plastic packaging. By combining natural rubber with bioplastic in a novel way they found a much stronger replacement for plastic. The research is published in Polymers (4.16 MB).
New one-step method to produce plant-derived plastic monomers
An international team, including researchers from Hokkaido University and Eindhoven University of Technology, has developed a one-step method that enables a scalable and more environmentally friendly production of plant-derived plastic monomers, paving the way towards mass production. You can read more in the summary of an article published in ACS Catalysis.
New collaborations
WUR has announced the launch of OnePlanet, a new innovation centre for nano-electronics and digitalization. Biodegradable mini-sensors that you sow between the potatoes, watches that give their wearers personal dietary advice, microchips that measure how long you can keep your chicken filet in the fridge. They’ll all be on the market in about 10 years’ time. Or they will be if it’s up to OnePlanet.
WUR also announced that the Bioprocess Pilot Facility B.V. (BPF) and Wageningen Food & Biobased Research will join forces to co-develop biobased processes for the chemical industry and the agri-food industry.
Innovative sensing system capable of identifying and distinguishing different stimuli
Researchers from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have developed an innovative sensing system capable of identifying and distinguishing different stimuli. The system is based on origami combined with ink developed at the Technion. The system has great potential as application in medicine, counterterrorism, food safety, ‘The Internet of things’ and more. The research is published in Nature Communications (1.91 MB).
Weekly overview of prices for plastics
Dutch trade magazine Vraag en Aanbod publishes a weekly overview of the prices for plastics (in Dutch). The prices given are estimated averages between the gross prices published in the trade journals and the net prices.
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