Key Announcements Made at TAPPI International Nanotechnology Conference
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More than 230 delegates from 25 countries gathered in Vancouver, B.C., Canada this past month at TAPPI’s 9th International Conference on Nanotechnology for Renewable Nanomaterials. "This year’s conference was exceptional," noted co-chair Wadood Hamad, principle scientist, FPInnovations. "The keynote and technical presentations were of very high quality. The advancements made in many applications show great promise, and we will see expanded commercial use of these renewable biomaterials."
"This year’s conference had an excellent balance of presentations on fundamental topics and applications," commented co-chair Orlando J. Rojas, Professor at North Carolina State & Aalto University. "Expert scientists from around the globe shared new insights and remarkable, high quality work."
Co-chair Akiro Isoagi, University of Tokyo, noted that "this year’s conference had significant representation from those companies and organizations in Japan involved in cellulose nanomaterials, It was a great honor to work with the co-chairs and conference planners to showcase the work going on in Japan and Asia."
Several key commercial announcements were made at this year’s conference, highlighting the tangible growth in this emerging market area of renewable biopolymers:- Celluforce, which opened their commercial plant in January 2012, shared six advanced commercial projects
- Imerys announced the launch of its new FiberLean™ MFC innovative composite, which enables a 10-15% reduction in fiber usage for papermaking applications
- Representatives from the newly formed BioFilaments shared information on their unique high performance biomaterial derived from wood cellulose to be used as reinforcing agents and rheological modifiers
- Blue Goose Biorefineries presentedits patent-pending process for producing cellulose nanocrystals from wood pulp
- Nippon Paper Industries introduced Cellenpia, its cellulose nanofibers produced from the company's pre-commercial plant
- GL&V presented its commercial system, developed with the University of Maine, to produce cellulose nanofibrils at a very low energy cost
- American Process Inc. presented its latest results of producing lignin-coated nanocellulose particles using its AVAP® technology, which produces a material that is more easily dispersed and has enhanced properties.
Also at this year’s conference, Dr. Richard Berry, VP and CTO for CelluForce, was honored with TAPPI’s International Nanotechnology Division’s first Technical Award. This award recognizes outstanding accomplishments or contributions that have advanced the responsible and sustainable production and use of renewable nanomaterials. Dr. Berry was presented this award, which was sponsored by Imerys. Plans are underway for next year’s conference, scheduled for June 22-25, 2015, in Atlanta, Ga., USA.
