Scalable, strong and water-stable wood-derived bioplastic

Abstract

Bioplastics derived from biomass are attractive replacement for petrochemical plastics due to biodegradability, renewability, and resource abundance. However, the inferior water stability and mechanical properties of most biomass-based bioplastics drastically impede their practical application. Here, a facile strategy is developed to synthesize a scalable, robust, water-stable, and UV-blocking bioplastic by in situ redistribution of natural rubber (NR) latex in wood structure. The wood-derived bioplastic is constructed of natural balsa and NR latex via a three-step process, involving delignification, in situ infiltration, densification and vulcanization simultaneously. The tight interaction between NR latex and cellulose endows the wood-derived bioplastic a compact structure, leading to the excellent mechanical strength and oxygen barrier property. The developed wood-derived bioplastic features a high tensile strength under dry conditions, 20 times higher than the natural balsa (180 MPa vs 7.5 MPa), and a significantly improved hydrostability. Specifically, the wood-derived bioplastic displays superior oxygen barrier property (OP value of ∼6.04 × 10-9 cm3 mm−2 day Pa), good biocompatibility and easy biodegradability, which can be easily biodegraded after 5 weeks in the soil due to its all-natural ingredients. These characteristics make wood-derived bioplastic a promising candidate to solve the environmental challenges brought by petroleum-based plastic.