Development of a green binder system for paper products

BMC Biotechnology

Research Article

Deborah Vicuna Requesens¹  Shivakumar P Devaiah¹  Elizabeth E Hood²  Keat Thomas Teoh²  Ashley R Flory³  Shawn D Mansfield⁴ 

[1] Arkansas Biosciences Institute, Arkansas State University, 72467, Jonesboro, AR, USA;Arkansas Biosciences Institute, Arkansas State University, 72467, Jonesboro, AR, USA;College of Agriculture and Technology, Arkansas State University, 72467, Jonesboro, AR, USA;Arkansas Biosciences Institute, Arkansas State University, 72467, Jonesboro, AR, USA;Department of Biology, Arkansas State University, 72467, Jonesboro, AR, USA;Department of Wood Science, University of British Columbia, 4030-2424 Main Mall, V6T 1Z4, Vancouver, BC, Canada;

关键词: Paper industry;    Binders;    Enzymes;    Plant-produced proteins;    Green chemistry;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1472-6750-13-28

 received in 2012-08-23, accepted in 2013-03-18,  发布年份 2013

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundIt is important for industries to find green chemistries for manufacturing their products that have utility, are cost-effective and that protect the environment. The paper industry is no exception. Renewable resources derived from plant components could be an excellent substitute for the chemicals that are currently used as paper binders. Air laid pressed paper products that are typically used in wet wipes must be bound together so they can resist mechanical tearing during storage and use. The binders must be strong but cost-effective. Although chemical binders are approved by the Environmental Protection Agency, the public is demanding products with lower carbon footprints and that are derived from renewable sources.ResultsIn this project, carbohydrates, proteins and phenolic compounds were applied to air laid, pressed paper products in order to identify potential renewable green binders that are as strong as the current commercial binders, while being organic and renewable. Each potential green binder was applied to several filter paper strips and tested for strength in the direction perpendicular to the cellulose fibril orientation. Out of the twenty binders surveyed, soy protein, gelatin, zein protein, pectin and Salix lignin provided comparable strength results to a currently employed chemical binder.ConclusionsThese organic and renewable binders can be purchased in large quantities at low cost, require minimal reaction time and do not form viscous solutions that would clog sprayers, characteristics that make them attractive to the non-woven paper industry. As with any new process, a large-scale trial must be conducted along with an economic analysis of the procedure. However, because multiple examples of “green” binders were found that showed strong cross-linking activity, a candidate for commercial application will likely be found.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Flory et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2013. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.