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Liquid wood, made from lignin and natural fibers, is a non-toxic, biodegradable alternative to petroleum-based plastics. Arboform® has low sulfur content, making it safe for toy manufacturing. The material is waterproof and can be shaped and mass-produced. Liquid wood has been used to make clocks, automobile parts, pens, and more. It can be recycled or disposed of like wood.
Liquid wood is a strong thermoplastic material composed of a blend of lignin and natural fibers called Arboform®. It is often hailed as the green alternative to petroleum-based plastics because it is non-toxic, biodegradable and does not deplete or depend on the non-renewable resource of petroleum. Before the invention of liquid wood, bioplastics were not suitable for household use due to their high sulfur content, but Arboform®’s low sulfur content also makes it safe for use in toy manufacturing.
Arboform® is formed by the combination of lignin and natural fibers, such as flax or hemp, and additives such as wax. Once the compound of lignin and fibers is complete, the mixture can be heated or placed under high pressure for processing and molding into parts. Lignin is a chemical compound produced as a by-product of the pulp and paper industry and derived in abundance from wood. It is second only to cellulose as the most common natural polymer and this polymeric molecular structure makes it very strong and suitable as an alternative to plastic.
Norbert Eisenreich’s team at the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology in Germany began researching alternatives to plastics in the mid-1990s and eventually landed on liquid wood. The plastic is strong, mouldable, and capable of being mass-produced, but it also has several flaws that have caused concern among consumers and researchers. Plastic’s dependence on crude oil depletes a non-renewable resource, causes pollution in its production and makes it subject to price increases. Phthalate-based fabric softeners and the heavy metals found in plastics have also raised sanitary objections to the use of plastics. Liquid wood comes from an abundant resource, can be shaped and mass-produced, biodegrades, and is non-toxic.
The Fraunhofer Institute faced the problem, however, of making the material waterproof and low in sulfur, which was achieved by replacing the separation of sulfur with high-pressure hydrolysis. In order to use lignin, it must first be separated from the other fibers of the wood, traditionally made with sulfur. The hydrolysis process uses only high pressure, water and high temperature to produce a water insoluble lignin. This reduces the sulfur content by ninety percent, producing a product that doesn’t degrade on exposure to water or saliva.
After Eisenreich conceived the Arboform® material, Tecnaro, another German company, refined it to be shaped and produced. Tecnaro has created plastic-like pellets that, under high pressure, can be forced through a nozzle to create more elaborate shapes. Liquid wood has been used to make clocks, automobile parts, pens, speaker boxes, and a crib, among other items. Finished, it may look like regular plastic found in most household products, or like polished wood. Liquid wood can be successfully recycled without changing the chemical composition of the material or disposed of in the same way as wood.
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