OREANDA-NEWS. Research Laboratories of NEC Corporation (NEC) have developed a new production technique, the "Two-stage Heterogeneous Synthesis Process," which can synthesize high-functionality bioplastic using the non-edible plant resource cellulose as its main component ("Cellulose-based High-functionality Bioplastic," hereafter) while consuming just one-tenth the energy (fewer CO2 emissions) that was previously required.

This Cellulose-based High-functionality Bioplastic developed independently by NEC is synthesized by chemically bonding cellulose, a primary component of materials such as wood and straw, with the oily component cardanol, which is derived from the agricultural by-product of cashew nut shells. As well as boasting excellent thermoplasticity, heat resistance and water resistance, this bioplastic features a characteristically high plant content (approximately 70%), and there are plans for it to be commercialized in durable products such as electronic devices. The cardanol used in the process was chemically modified into a reactive structure (hereafter referred to as "modified cardanol") in collaboration with Tohoku Chemical Industries Ltd.

In the new Two-stage heterogeneous synthesis process developed by NEC, instead of dissolving the raw material cellulose into an organic solvent (homogenous system) as before, after being swollen into a gel-like substance with an organic solvent (heterogeneous system), it is bonded with the modified cardanol (long-chain component) and acetic acid (short-chain component) in two stages to synthesize a resin. This resin can be easily collected from a liquid solution through solid-liquid separation methods such as precipitation and filtration.

As this process achieves the reaction conditions at almost ordinary pressure and medium temperature (100°C or less), and does not require a solvent for separation of the produced resin, as was required with the conventional homogeneous process, a significant reduction in the amount of solvent needed for synthesis (a roughly 90% decrease from the conventional process) is achieved. As a result, this Cellulose-based High-functionality Bioplastic can be produced for about one tenth of the energy (CO2 emissions) when compared with conventional methods, thereby promising a drastic reduction in production costs when the material is mass produced in the future.

NEC aims to use this technology to start mass production of a Cellulose-based High-functionality Bioplastic during fiscal 2016 and seeks to deploy the material in electronic devices and various other durable products.