Nanotechnology can replace petroleum

The petroleum used in adhesives, coatings, inks and plastics could be replaced with the nanoparticles in sugar and starch.

John van Leeuwen, chairman and chief executive officer of biomaterials company Ecosynthetix in Lansing, Michigan, told United Press that the starch in the nanoparticles comes from crops, a renewable resource, unlike petroleum.
 
"Every US$10 increase in a barrel of oil leads to an US$80 billion a year impact on the national economy," Van Leeuwen added.
 
"Our technology became interesting once oil went above US$25 a barrel."
 
Currently, cardboard manufacturers use about four billion pounds of starchy adhesives per year from 1,700 plants globally to glue together the paper layers that make corrugated containers.
 
It was a three-billion-dollar industry in 2005.
 
Natural starch particles are about 30 microns – or millionths of a metre – wide.
 
Ecosynthetix, however, base their technology on shrinking the granules to 50 to 150 nanometres – or billionths of a metre – large.
 
Nanoparticles have 400 times more surface area than natural starch when at that size.
 
Therefore, they need less water to be useful in adhesives making them more economical as it takes less time and energy to dry.
 
"You get higher output due to reducing the cooling time needed, and there's also less warping of the paper due to lack of heat, which leads to higher paper strength," van Leeuwen added.
 
Among other industries, inks and toners are part of a multibillion-dollar market that is also based on petroleum.
 
"Our technology looks good for that space – we've gotten good initial results there, although we haven't launched products for that industry yet," van Leeuwen said.
 
The company plans to help create biopolysters, a commonly used material for building blocks.
 
Ecosynthetix are currently converting two industrial plants to use their adhesives.

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