Professor Bousfield receives patent for composite building products made with cellulose nanofibers

August 3, 2020 News

The process developed by UMaine researchers eliminates the use of formaldehyde as a binding agent, replacing it with a CNF slurry. The resulting product tests higher for fracture toughness and sequesters carbon and oxygen into the building product for its life span — typically decades.The UMaine inventor is professor of chemical and biomedical engineering Doug Bousfield. Co-inventor is Michael Bilodeau, the former director of UMaine’s Process Development Center (PDC), a commercial-scale pilot plant on campus devoted to pulp and paper research and development. Mehdi Tajvidi, associate professor of renewable nanomaterials, also is a leading UMaine researcher in this area and is developing related technology as part of P3Nano, a public-private partnership founded by the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities and the U.S. Forest Service.

“CNF technology could transform the way we make not only building materials, but a host of other products,” says Bousfield. “Particle board is only one potential application – a similar process could be used to create composite fiber board for insulation, cements, and even paint. We are also researching alternatives to single-use plastics for applications such as food packaging, drink lids and utensils.” The patent number is U.S. 10,695,947.

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UMaine receives patent for composite building products made with cellulose nanofibers

https://umaine.edu/news/blog/2020/07/27/umaine-receives-patent-for-composite-building-products-made-with-cellulose-nanofibers/