U.S. biotechnology company American Process Inc. (API) and the Dutch companies Will & Co BV and PRG BV have signed an agreement to develop and supply ready-to-use thermoplastic compounds reinforced with nanocellulose.
API currently produces nanocellulose under the brand name Bioplus, which it says is a result of its research and development efforts.
“Bioplus nanocellulose has low production cost, is thermally stable at high temperatures, and can be functionally dried as a powder that blends uniformly with hydrophobic polymers,” explained API CEO, Theodora Retsina.
The partnership will look into developing applications to enable commercial production of the nanocellulose.
Conventional cellulose-based fibers are currently used in plastic compounding for commercial products,
“We identified a growing demand within our European markets for conventional and biobased plastic compounds that have improved sustainability profiles along with high performance,” explained Epco Blessing, product manager plastics and additives, at Dutch distributer Will & Co.
The company, he added, is interested in adding to its product portfolio on technical plastics and additives with nanocellulose.
PRG is a product development and compounding company based in the Netherlands and has a long history of working with Will & Co on engineering thermoplastics.