This cardboard-based foam reinforced with gelatin might make product packaging materials more sustainable. Credit: Jinsheng GouEco-friendly cushioning foam made from recycled cardboard offers a more powerful, more insulating alternative to traditional product packaging materials, providing a sustainable service for the shipping industry.With the vacation season in full swing, gifts of all shapes and sizes are being delivered around the globe. But all that product packaging generates great deals of waste, including cardboard boxes and plastic-based foam cushioning, such as Styrofoam ™. Rather than dispose of those boxes, scientists publishing in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & & Engineering established a cushioning foam from cardboard waste. Their upcycled material was stronger and more insulating than standard, plastic foam-based cushioning.Transforming Common Household Waste Into Eco-Friendly MaterialsAmong the numerous kinds of trash that collect within a home, wastepaper is one of the most typical. Whatever from papers and spam to paperboard envelopes and cardboard boxes can accumulate, especially as internet shopping has exploded in popularity. Scientists are interested in turning these containers and paper waste into something else thats beneficial– light but sturdy mailing materials.Currently, to keep toys and electronics nestled tightly within a box, molded cushioning products, such as Styrofoam, are normally utilized. A sustainable alternative might be lightweight, cellulose aerogels, but existing methods to produce them from wastepaper need numerous chemical pretreatment steps. So, Jinsheng Gou and colleagues wished to find a simpler way to make a wastepaper-based foam material that could stand up to the roughest of deliveries.Innovating Cardboard-Based Foam for Enhanced ProtectionTo create their foam, the group broke down cardboard scraps in a blender to produce a pulp, then mixed it with either gelatin or polyvinyl acetate (PVA) glue. The mixes were put into molds, refrigerated, then freeze-dried to form cushioning foams. Both paper-based foams worked as great thermal insulators and strong energy absorbers– even better than some plastic foams.The team then developed a sturdy variation of their wastepaper foam by integrating the pulp, gelatin, PVA glue, and a silica-based fluid that hardens as force is applied. This variation of the cardboard-based foam held up against hits from a hammer without breaking down, which result suggests the foam might be used in force-intensive deliveries, such as parachute-free airdrops.The researchers state their work uses an easy yet efficient approach to upcycle cardboard to develop more eco-friendly product packaging materials.Reference: “Biodegradable Wastepaper-Based Foam with Ultrahigh Energy-Absorbing, Excellent Thermal Insulation, and Outstanding Cushioning Properties” by Bin Zhang, Wenxuan Tao, Ziming Ren, Shiqi Yue and Jinsheng Gou, 28 November 2023, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & & Engineering.DOI: 10.1021/ acssuschemeng.3 c06230The authors acknowledge financing from the Beijing Key Laboratory of Wood Science and Engineering.
