Bio Plastics

Litrax BioPlastics are produced utilizing natural and renewable resources and raw materials such as wood, grass, bamboo, corn and others. The resulting biodegradable fibers and polymers have unique properties and are economically and ecologically sound. Litrax BioPlastics serve various industry processing standards such as extrusion, molding and thermoforming.

We have to distinguish between BioPolymers and BioPlastics.

Bioplastics are a form of plastics derived from plant sources such as bamboo, hemp oil, soy bean oil and corn starch rather than traditional plastics which are derived from petroleum. Bioplastics are mainly composed by a matrix (resin) and a reinforcement of natural fibers (usually derived from plants or cellulose). With wide-ranging uses from environment-friendly biodegradable composites to biomedical composites for drug/gene delivery, tissue engineering applications and cosmetic orthodontics. They often mimic the structures of the living materials involved in the process in addition to the strengthening properties of the matrix that was used but still providing biocompatibility, e.g in creating scaffolds in bone tissue engineering. LITRAX is researching in this field and will bring a series of BioPlastics on the market soon. For more information, contact us.

Bioplastics are fast biodegradeable, renewable and characterised by the fact that:

The petrochemical resin is replaced by a vegetable or animal resin, and/or The bolsters (glass or carbon fibre or talc) are replaced by natural fibre (wood fibres, hemp, flax, bamboo, sisal, jute...) The BioPlastics markets are significantly rising, mainly because of the increase in oil price, and recycling and environment necessities. BioPlastics are bio degradeable.

Application of BioPlastics:

Consumer Science

Plastic containers of all shapes and sizes are light weight and economically less expensive than the more traditional containers. Clothing, floor coverings, garbage disposal bags, and packaging are other polymer applications.

Industry

Automobile parts, windshields for fighter planes, pipes, tanks, packing materials, insulation, wood substitutes, adhesives, matrix for composites, and elastomers are all polymer applications used in the industrial market.

Playground equipment, various balls, golf clubs, swimming pools, and protective helmets are often produced from polymers.

BioPolymers are polymers that are generated from renewable natural sources , are often biodegradable, and not toxic to produce. BioPolymers can be produced by biological systems (i.e. micro-organisms, plants and animals), or chemically synthesized from biological starting materials (e.g. sugars, starch, grass, natural fats or oils, etc.).Biopolymers are an alternative to petroleum-based polymers (traditional plastics). (Bio)polyesters have properties similar to traditional polyesters. Starch-based polymers are often a blend of starch and other plastics (e.g PE), which allows for enhanced environmental properties.

Selling biopolymers means selling tailored properties - adapting a product to the specific needs of customers in the best possible way. Litrax is watching new scientific developments that might allow revolutionary breakthroughs in biomaterial evolution. Litrax senior staff keep in close contact with the scientific and academic communities.

Biopolymers occur in any organism, and in most organisms they contribute to the by far major fraction of the cellular dry matter. Biopolymers possess a wide range of different essential or beneficial functions for the organisms: conservation and expression of genetic information, catalysis of reactions, storage of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients and of energy, defense and protection against the attack of other cells or hazardous environmental or intrinsic factors, sensors of biotic and abiotic factors, communication with the environment and other organisms, mediators of adhesion to surfaces of other organisms or of non-living matter and many more. In addition, many biopolymers are structural components of cells, tissues, and whole organisms.

To fulfil all these different functions, biopolymers must exhibit rather diverse properties. They must very specifically interact with a large variety of different substances, components and materials, and often they must have extraordinarily high affinities to them. Finally, they must have a high strength. Some of these properties are utilized directly or indirectly for various applications. This and the possibility to produce them from renewable resources, as living matter mostly does, make biopolymers interesting candidates to industry. Polymers are substances whose molecules have high molar masses and are composed of a large number of repeating units. There are both naturally occurring and synthetic polymers. Among naturally occurring polymers are proteins, starches, cellulose, and latex. Synthetic polymers are produced commercially on a very large scale and have a wide range of properties and uses. The materials commonly called plastics are all synthetic polymers.

Polymers are substances containing a large number of structural units joined by the same type of linkage. These substances often form into a chain-like structure. Polymers in the natural world have been around since the beginning of time. Starch, cellulose, and rubber all possess polymeric properties. Man-made polymers have been studied since 1832. Today, the polymer industry has grown to be larger than the aluminum, copper and steel industries combined.

Polymers already have a range of applications that far exceeds that of any other class of material available to man. Current applications extend from adhesives, coatings, foams, and packaging materials to textile and industrial fibers, composites, electronic devices, biomedical devices, optical devices, and precursors for many newly developed high-tech ceramics. The field of polymers is so vast and the applications so varied, that it is important to understand how polymers are made and used. Since there are over 60,000 different plastics vying for a place in the market, knowledge of this important field can truly enrich our appreciation of this wonder material. Companies manufacture over 30 million tons of plastics each year, and spend large sums on research, development, and more efficient recycling methods.

Applications of BioPolymers:

Agriculture and Agribusiness

Polymeric materials are used in and on soil to improve aeration, provide mulch, and promote plant growth and health.

Medicine

Any biomaterials, especially heart valve replacements and blood vessels, are made of polymers like Dacron, Teflon and polyurethane.

Polymers are formed by chemical reactions in which a large number of molecules called monomers are joined equentially, forming a chain. In many polymers, only one monomer is used. In others, two or three different monomers may be combined. Polymers are classified by the characteristics of the reactions by which they are formed. If all atoms in the monomers are incorporated into the polymer, the polymer is called an addition polymer. If some of the atoms of the monomers are released into small molecules, such as water, the polymer is called a condensation polymer. Most addition polymers are made from monomers containing a double bond between carbon atoms. Such monomers are called olefins, and most commercial addition polymers are polyolefins. Condensation polymers are made from monomers that have two different groups of atoms which can join together to form, for example, ester or amide links. Polyesters are an important class of commercial polymers, as are polyamides (nylon).

For more details please contact us or refer to our Products section above.