Rengo Co., Ltd., a flexible plastics and corrugated board packaging supplier in Osaka, Japan, is actively developing new cellulose nanofibers (CNF) using intermediate materials and cellulose production technology.
The cost of cellulose nanofibers has not been solved, but progress is continuing
In the process of developing CNF, Rengo focused its development on the cellophane production technology of Wusheng City, Japan, which uses 'xanthate' as an intermediate to produce CNF (XCNF). This intermediate is in the cellulose molecule. Contains xanthogen, but these protoplasma are easily removed and can convert XCNF to CNF like pure cellulose. Xanthogenated CNF can be used in many industrial fields such as composite materials for automobiles.
In production, cellulose fibers are usually processed to the nanometer scale by chemical or mechanical processing. The nanofibers weigh only one-fifth of the steel, but the strength can reach five times that of steel. The disadvantage is production. The cost is still high, so Rengo hopes to collaborate with companies and universities on basic research and product development to accelerate the commercialization of XCNF materials.
At the same time, Japan's Mitsubishi Paper Mill is using another method to reduce the production cost of CNF. The current cost is about 90 US dollars per kilogram. Yasuyuki Oku, the head of the company's marketing group, said that low-cost cellulose microfibers, Even the nanofibers can fully enhance the strength of thermoplastics in applications, they can be more easily fused into the polymer matrix than CNF, and this feature is more pronounced in papermaking. (METI) has set a goal of reducing the cost of CNF to 400-500 yen per kilogram by 2030 (about 1.60-2.00 US dollars per pound), but some people in the industry think that this goal is difficult to achieve. Microfiber technology may be a good choice.
Mitsubishi Paper Mill has been able to commercialize cellulosic fiber reinforced polypropylene (PP) compounds. Its high-purity cellulose fiber PCV30-F PP compound has tensile strengths of 10%, 20% and 30, respectively, based on 32 MPa. %, reaching 36, 45 and 56 MPa, the heat distortion temperature has been enhanced from 110 ° C to 127 ° C, 145 ° C and 154 ° C, and its performance has been greatly improved. Compared with the MFR of the standard PP 60, these three grades MFR is 14, 2 and 1. Mitsubishi Paper Mill can also produce PP for wood pulp, which has lower cost and slightly lower mechanical properties than other types of PP.
Mitsubishi Paper Mill is also actively promoting the application of recycled carbon fiber in PP thermoplastic compounds. The cost of PP reinforced with Virgin carbon fiber is very expensive, and it is difficult to combine with carbon fiber reinforced polyamide (CF-PA) in terms of cost and performance. ) Compound competition.
Mitsubishi Paper Mill is currently recycling carbon fiber waste such as fibers in thermoset composites and discards, and then using PP film layers to compress these waste into multi-layer CF-PP coils, further processed into three-dimensional materials, and even for insertion. Forming or back forming process. The company's Carboplus coils have a basis weight of 30-100 grams per square meter (thickness 450-1500 microns, CF content 50-90% by weight). Products using recycled CF retain Virgin CF- PP coil material 90% mechanical properties.