Scientists have created an extremely useful eco-friendly product made out of only water and plant-derived cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), ‘eco’ superglue.
Superglue is used for many things that we don’t give much thought, such as packaging and many electronics. They are extremely useful, however, they are made from harsh chemicals and very difficult to “undo” whatever you just glued.
Researchers from Finland’s Aalto University, the University of Tokyo, Sichuan University, and the University of British Columbia’s new eco glue is extremely strong when force is applied against it. One single drop can hold up to 200 pounds, but can easily be removed with just the touch of a finger.
The glue exhibits a bonding strength of more than 70 times when trying to separate glued components along the principal plane of the bond.
Dr. Blaise Tardy from the Aalto Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems said:
The ability to hold this amount of weight with just a few drops is huge, especially from a natural plant-based solution.
The team’s work was recently published in Advanced Materials and explains just how useful this will be for the construction of fragile components in microelectronics, which will increase reusability. It also opens up many possibilities for greener adhesive solutions for sustainable packaging.
Aside from using harsh chemicals, making conventional superglues can be quite expensive. This method developed by the team is very cost-effective. The biobased materials, sourced directly from plants, only requires adding water. The curing process occurs from the evaporation of water, which can be controlled by adding heat.
Aalto University professor Orlando Rojas explains how working together helped the team make this exciting discovery:
Reaching a deep understanding on how the cellulose nanoparticles, mixed with water, to form such an outstanding adhesive is a result of the work between myself, Dr. Tardy, Luiz Greca, Professor Hirotaka Ejima, Dr. Joseph J. Richardson and Professor Junling Guo and it highlights the fantastic collaboration and integration of knowledge towards the development of an extremely appealing, low-cost and safe application.
The bonding industry that includes both superglue for sale in stores and what is used for packaging is a multi-billion dollar industry. The eco superglue supports a circular economy and can be processed from recycled materials.
Dr. Tardy gives his thoughts on the discovery:
The truly exciting aspect of this is that although our new adhesive can be sourced directly from residual biomass, such as that from the agro-industry or recycled paper; it outperforms currently available commercial synthetic products by a great many measures.
The scientists point out that there is an “ever-increasing production of cellulose nanocrystals seen across the globe,” which will allow for worldwide utilization.
Next up will be further testing using heat and how much of an effect faster evaporation rates will have on the overall structural strength. Even though it cannot currently bond in just a few seconds, like some chemical products, that can be overlooked for its environmental properties, as Dr. Tardy said:
Good, green packaging with bad glue still renders the packaging bad.
