From CBC news “Company aims to remould plastics industry with nano-crystalline cellulose from trees“,
Faster cars, compostable plastics, ultra-hard iridescent coatings: these are some of the potential uses of nano-crystalline cellulose (NCC). It’s a new material produced from wood cellulose, using a cost-effective method developed by researchers at FP Innovations, a non-profit forest industry research consortium based in Montreal.
NCC has many unusual properties, in addition to having all the biodegradable attributes associated with its plant-based source.
Materials scientists are in awe of NCC’s extraordinary potential — among its many attributes, it’s strong, lightweight, can conduct light and electricity, has anti-microbial properties, can be embedded safely in body tissue, and even has self-cleaning characteristics. In toxicity tests conducted for Environment Canada, NCC was found to be environmentally benign and no more toxic than salt.
And it has a pleasing iridescence.
“When NCC is applied in layers on a surface, it can change colour with the angle, like a bird’s plumage,” says Dr. Richard Berry, lead scientist and co-ordinator of the nanotechnology initiative at FP Innovations. Materials can be made in various colours without the use of dyes and chemicals.
“NCC is beautiful,” says Orlando Rojas, chair of the American Chemical Society.
Posted in Canada, Science & Technology 
