A doctoral student from the Institute of Plant Sciences and Genetics in the Faculty of Agriculture of the Hebrew University developed a method for using waste paper to produce ecological and environmentally friendly industrial sponges from renewable sources
Hard and flexible sponges are used in a very wide variety of everyday uses in industries such as
The furniture, transportation, construction and more. In the composite materials industry, rigid sponges are used in sandwich structures as the core material that joins two different layers while maintaining great strength, low weight and thermal and acoustic insulation. The sponges that exist today are produced from petroleum-based synthetic polymers such as polyurethane, polystyrene and more. However, due to the constant increase in oil prices and the environmental damage caused by these materials, the need to create alternative sponges from renewable sources is increasing.
Shaul Lapidot, a doctoral student of Prof. Oded Shusiov from the Institute of Plant Sciences and Genetics in the Faculty of Agriculture of the Hebrew University, developed a method for using waste paper to produce ecological and environmentally friendly industrial sponges from renewable sources. The technology developed by the torches
Recently received a license from Yisham, the research development company of the Hebrew University by
Melodea Ltd., an Israeli-Swedish start-up company that intends to develop the technology for industrial production.
Lapidot, together with his laboratory colleagues, developed a procedure for extracting nanoparticles from paper waste. These nanoparticles are then processed to create rigid composite sponges for applications in the composite materials industry as a biological substitute for synthetic sponges. During the production of paper, a significant amount of fiber is not used but is washed away and stored as waste. In Europe alone, 11 million tons of waste are produced every year by industry, while creating an incentive to find alternative uses and different applications for waste.
Lapidot and his colleagues found that fibers from waste paper are a perfect source for producing nanoparticles due to their small size, which requires relatively little energy and chemicals to process them.
Nano particles which are building blocks for the creation of sponges. Later in the process, the sponges are reinforced
Using a resin called furan (furan) which is also produced from renewable sources such as waste from the sugar industry to create a hard sponge. The sponges Shalapid and his colleagues have recently developed are porous and very light and are intended to be used as a biological substitute for the synthetic sponges for industrial uses such as the composite materials industry.
According to Lapidot, development has significant economic implications: "The handling of paper waste has caused heavy financial expenses over the years. Now, the possibility of turning paper waste into sponges for the complex materials industry turns the waste from an economic burden into an attractive and profitable product."
The development of Lapidot led him to win the prestigious Bernholtz Award which was recently awarded as part of the events of the Board of Trustees of the Hebrew University. The award is named after the inventor of the Doxil drug for the treatment of cancer, Prof. Yehezkel Bernholtz from the Hebrew University of Hadassah School of Medicine.
One response
Then when the plane crashes in a remote place and there is nothing to eat, you can gnaw it in the meantime.
I suggest adding flavors to the sponge.