by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Switzerland, Avalon Industries has launched a research project to replace formaldehyde in phenol-formaldehyde resins with a bio-based, non-toxic platform chemical 5-HMF, The R&D partner is the Institute for Materials and Wood Technology at the Bern University of Applied Sciences.
The research project, ‘Development of a formaldehyde-free phenol type adhesive system for the manufacturing of plywood’, aims to come up with a formaldehyde-free, sustainable and non-toxic adhesive for industrial use in the wood-processing industry. The project will also investigate the replacement of phenol with lignin in order to develop 100% bio-based lignin-HMF resins.
Meanwhile, you may find yourself wondering what the fuss is about. 5-H, er, what? Why should anyone care?
The quest for the clear plastic Plant Bottle
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As a fuel, too?
Yep, 5-HMF is a precursor to DMF fuel, which has drop-in characteristics, can be cheap to make from 6C sugars, high octane (an estimated RON of 119), and 40% higher energy density than ethanol.
More on that here. But there needs to be more research on the impact of DMF emissions from a lifecycle basis.
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Also in the race for FDCA and 5-HMF
For one, Glucan Renewables. Glucan is producing furan derivatives from biomass. The furfural platform will be used to launch other value-added co-products: 5-hydroxyl-methyl furfural (HMF) and downstream derivatives
And there’s xF Technologies. xF’s technology combines known chemical reactions of biomass with novel engineering and novel homogeneous catalysis to create valuable green products from waste material.
ADM and DuPont are in it to win it, too. In January, DuPont and ADM announced a new breakthrough process in producing FDME from fructose, with “the potential to expand the materials landscape in the 21st century with exciting and truly novel, high-performance renewable materials”, the companies said in a joint release.
And there’s Avantium. Avantium’s YXY technology
converts plant-based sugars into Furanics building blocks. YXY enables the cost-competitive production of 100% biobased plastic materials and chemicals via chemical catalytic processes.
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