Development opportunity
Margarita Calafell, a researcher at the Department of Chemical Engineering of the Technical University of Barcelona’s (UPC) School of Industrial and Aeronautical Engineering, has developed a new material by applying an enzyme treatment to recycled paper sludge.
Recycling paper has been a common process for many years. However, the production of a new, highly resistant, versatile and environmentally friendly material from the unwanted waste of this process is a completely new. Calafell, who runs the Enzyme Catalysis Laboratory of UPC’s Engineering and Biotechnology (ENGIBIO) research group, has devised a method for modifying the chemical and structural properties of the cellulose materials left after the paper recycling process.
This can be used to generate a new compact, mouldable, fire resistant, impermeable, strong, porous material that could, in many cases, replace materials that are not environmentally friendly, or that are more expensive, such as plastics, wood derivatives or rubber.
This process is highly efficient, with each kilogram of paper producing a kilogram of the new material.
The new material is strong, insulating, impermeable and low density, making it suitable for replacing plasterboard and many other materials used in construction, such as partition walls, soundproofing boards or false ceilings. The material’s mouldability means that it can be used to manufacture all kinds of packaging products, and could replace expanded polystyrene or other petroleum-derived products.
The new material has been patented. Calafell says the technique can be used to modify the properties of all kinds of residues from cellulose material (paper), to polymers, and rubber from tyres. She has begun efforts to commercialise the new material through the creation of a spin-off company, and is searching for investors and partners to manufacture it on a large scale. In addition, a pilot production plant is to be built in a joint project with the UPC’s Materials and Structures Laboratory of Innovation Technology.
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