ANYKING
INTERNATIONAL
Taken from nature, given back to earth - Viewing recyclable forest resources from the perspective of wood fiber
2020-12-17
The cell wall of wood is a renewable polymer biomaterial composed of three components: cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, which make up around 95% weight for the cell wall.
Hydrophilic cellulose and hemicellulose are polymer compounds composed of carbohydrates (monosaccharides) as units, while hydrophobic lignin is composed of phenylpropane with aromatic rings as units (Table 1). These three chemical properties are the main elements that wood can play an important role in human civilization.
When it comes to the use of wooden ingredients, readers may prefer to think of building houses, furniture, or fibers separated from wood which can be used for making paper.
But most people have never thought about that the clothes we wear, the toothpaste for brushing our teeth, the thickeners added to beverages, the excipients in vitamins or pills, gunpowder, etc., are all made from renewable wooden materials.
The hydroxyl groups on the cellulose also provide a reactive position, which can be used to make different cellulose derivatives, such as nitrocellulose made by immersing fibrous materials in a mixture of concentrated nitric acid and concentrated sulfuric acid (also known as nitrocellulose, fire cotton, which is explosive in the ancient time), as well as regenerated ray (pronounced as same as "thunder" in mandarin), rayon fiber, etc., all of them are produced through cellulose derivatives.
At present, cellulose derivatives have been widely used in the fields of food, medicine, chemical, construction, environmental protection and petrochemistry industry. The product forms include silk, membrane, hydrogel, aerogel, bioplastics, high-performance materials…and so on. From the perspective of resources, cellulose is an inexhaustible renewable resource.
Compared with the synthetic fibers made by fossil materials, the hydroxyl groups on cellulose materials have better reactivity. It can be designed and be reacted according to the performance that we expected. Natural fiber is relatively simple in the technology of process and the cost is low. The generated pollution is also lower than fossil raw materials as well.
The best raw material to reduce the burden for environment.
In addition to the above-mentioned benefits, these natural fibers have better biodegradability and also are eco-friendly materials. In recent years, the development of nano-grade cellulose has become the main focus in the development of cellulose technology.
Nanocellulose has the characteristics of large specific surface area and high tensile strength. At the same time, nanocellulose has not been found to have rejection or inflammation effects in the organism. Therefore, this natural biomaterial has excellent biocompatibility. It has also aroused the widespread interest in the medical and industrial fields. It should be widely used in daily or surgical, experimental consumables, such as cosmetic raw materials, surgery, tissue engineering, stents, even in biomedical materials, biological carriers, biosensors, magnetic drug carriers and the fine equipment of inorganic material biological templates. All of these are the important fields of cellulose technology in the future.
Learn more about the management of forest sustainability
The relationship between renewable wood fibers from forests and human beings has become closer with the development of technology. Forests are important natural resources and have a bearing on ecological quality. However, when facing the growing shortage of fossil raw materials, renewable green resources should be used more fully and effectively.
Therefore, the use of forest resources by mankind should be reviewed and faced with the adversity of future environmental pollution and energy shortage. In Taiwan, nearly 60% of land is covered by forests. Except for the original natural forests and environmental protection forests, nearly 400,000 hectares of economic forest’s land should still be available. The correct way to use forest resources is to plant more trees and reduce the use of non-renewable energy or materials (such as fossil fuels, minerals and synthetic polymers), and use more renewable wood, so that it can avoid to releasing more "carbon" from the ground into biosphere.
Responsible and forward-looking forest management is an activity for the cultivation, development, utilization and environmental protection of forest resources, such as the use of renewable natural fibers as much as possible. It not only can improve the quality of human life, but also can achieve the purpose of protecting the environment.
Resource: https://www.scimonth.com.tw/tw/article/show.aspx?num=537&root=5&page=4
Hydrophilic cellulose and hemicellulose are polymer compounds composed of carbohydrates (monosaccharides) as units, while hydrophobic lignin is composed of phenylpropane with aromatic rings as units (Table 1). These three chemical properties are the main elements that wood can play an important role in human civilization.
When it comes to the use of wooden ingredients, readers may prefer to think of building houses, furniture, or fibers separated from wood which can be used for making paper.
But most people have never thought about that the clothes we wear, the toothpaste for brushing our teeth, the thickeners added to beverages, the excipients in vitamins or pills, gunpowder, etc., are all made from renewable wooden materials.
The hydroxyl groups on the cellulose also provide a reactive position, which can be used to make different cellulose derivatives, such as nitrocellulose made by immersing fibrous materials in a mixture of concentrated nitric acid and concentrated sulfuric acid (also known as nitrocellulose, fire cotton, which is explosive in the ancient time), as well as regenerated ray (pronounced as same as "thunder" in mandarin), rayon fiber, etc., all of them are produced through cellulose derivatives.
At present, cellulose derivatives have been widely used in the fields of food, medicine, chemical, construction, environmental protection and petrochemistry industry. The product forms include silk, membrane, hydrogel, aerogel, bioplastics, high-performance materials…and so on. From the perspective of resources, cellulose is an inexhaustible renewable resource.
Compared with the synthetic fibers made by fossil materials, the hydroxyl groups on cellulose materials have better reactivity. It can be designed and be reacted according to the performance that we expected. Natural fiber is relatively simple in the technology of process and the cost is low. The generated pollution is also lower than fossil raw materials as well.
The best raw material to reduce the burden for environment.
In addition to the above-mentioned benefits, these natural fibers have better biodegradability and also are eco-friendly materials. In recent years, the development of nano-grade cellulose has become the main focus in the development of cellulose technology.
Nanocellulose has the characteristics of large specific surface area and high tensile strength. At the same time, nanocellulose has not been found to have rejection or inflammation effects in the organism. Therefore, this natural biomaterial has excellent biocompatibility. It has also aroused the widespread interest in the medical and industrial fields. It should be widely used in daily or surgical, experimental consumables, such as cosmetic raw materials, surgery, tissue engineering, stents, even in biomedical materials, biological carriers, biosensors, magnetic drug carriers and the fine equipment of inorganic material biological templates. All of these are the important fields of cellulose technology in the future.
Learn more about the management of forest sustainability
The relationship between renewable wood fibers from forests and human beings has become closer with the development of technology. Forests are important natural resources and have a bearing on ecological quality. However, when facing the growing shortage of fossil raw materials, renewable green resources should be used more fully and effectively.
Therefore, the use of forest resources by mankind should be reviewed and faced with the adversity of future environmental pollution and energy shortage. In Taiwan, nearly 60% of land is covered by forests. Except for the original natural forests and environmental protection forests, nearly 400,000 hectares of economic forest’s land should still be available. The correct way to use forest resources is to plant more trees and reduce the use of non-renewable energy or materials (such as fossil fuels, minerals and synthetic polymers), and use more renewable wood, so that it can avoid to releasing more "carbon" from the ground into biosphere.
Responsible and forward-looking forest management is an activity for the cultivation, development, utilization and environmental protection of forest resources, such as the use of renewable natural fibers as much as possible. It not only can improve the quality of human life, but also can achieve the purpose of protecting the environment.
Resource: https://www.scimonth.com.tw/tw/article/show.aspx?num=537&root=5&page=4