American process: Production of low cost nanocellulose for renewable, advanced materials applications

Abstract

Nanocellulose has proven to be a versatile material with a vast array of potential commercial applications including composites and foams for automotive, aerospace, and building construction, viscosity modifiers for cosmetics and oil drilling fluids, and high performance fillers for paper, packaging, paints, plastics, and cement. In addition to material performance properties like gelation, shear thinning, exceptionally high strength, and light weight, nanocellulose has a strong sustainability profile. Being made from biomass, it is renewable, biodegradable, compostable, and designed for the environment with a sustainable life cycle carbon footprint. American Process Inc.’s (API’s) American Value Added Pulping (AVAP)® technology offers commercial-scale production of nanocellulose with flexibility in final product morphology (rod shaped nanocrystals and fiber shaped nanofibrils) and surface properties (hydrophilic or hydrophobic) to service the wide variety of emerging end-use market segments. The novel hydrophobic lignin-coated variety of AVAP nanocellulose can be incorporated into plastics. This achievement overcomes a well-known barrier to commercial utilization of nanocellulose. AVAP nanocellulose will also be low cost, with commercial selling prices anticipated to be comparable to competing petroleum-based polymers.