Plant cellulose forms lightweight material that is tough as metal

New Materials Asia, August, 2006

A Kyoto University research team led by Professor Hiroyuki Yano has developed a plant cellulose-based material that is as tough as metal, but much lighter.

The team sees the material being used in place of oil-based plastics and metals in a wide variety of structural applications, from building frames to automobile bodies, appliances and cellular phones. To this end, it has begun collaborative research and development work with Matsushita Electric Works Ltd and automobile-related manufacturers to develop ways of processing the material into complex shapes.

Plant cellulose exists in the form of bundles of nano-sized cellulose fibres. These cellulose fibre bundles are strong in their own right--comparable to aramid fibres used for making bulletproof vests. However, the university team says it increased the strength even further by using a special machine to untie the bundles in solution so the individual cellulose fibres could be packed closer together.

Hardened into a sheet, these cellulose fibres become a material that is as strong as aluminium alloy, but just half the weight. If the fibres are mixed with phenol resin and hardened, they become a material that responds like magnesium alloy when subjected to a distorting force.

The company believes that this material could be used in place of soft steel for building frames, despite being only one-fifth the weight of the steel currently in use.

For further information, contact: Kyoto University, Yoshida-Honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan; tel: 81-75-753-7531; Internet: www.kyoto-u.ac.jp; or contact: Matsushita Electric Works Ltd, 1048 Kadoma, Osaka 571-8686, Japan; tel: 81-6-6908-1131; fax: 81-6-6903-3558; Internet: www.mew.co.jp