Starch-Based Thermoplastic Wood

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Cellulose-based composites are one of the major materials for the worldwide construction industry. There are almost no buildings which do not contain them as a major component. They are constructed of wood fibres or chips held together with typically 15 % by weight of a thermoset resin. One significant advantage of these materials is that they use waste products from the pulp and timber industries and so they are significantly less expensive than virgin timber. Almost all of the resins used in fibreboard are either urea-formaldehyde (UF) or phenol-formaldehyde (PF) and these are the main issue associated with their widespread use. Fibreboard is known to slowly release of formaldehyde, often into the enclosed domestic environment and formaldehyde is a known carcinogen and so efforts are underway to find alternatives to UF and PF resins. This project will use simple plant starch with other non-toxic modifiers to bind the woodflour and thus make a sustainable, recycleable and ultimately compostable material. The project will make large sheets of starch-based thermoplastic wood and test their applicability with a major High Street retailer. Samples will be produced and a significant publicity campaign will be carried out using the data produced by this project.