2. PAPER STONE
PaperStone® is made from FSC® certified
Recycled and FSC® certified Mix post-
consumer recycled paper and that has been
saturated with our proprietary phenolic
resins and selected natural pigments on our
treater lines. After trimming to length, resin-
saturated sheets are stacked and moved into
a press where they are fused together under
heat and pressure. Paper sheet count
determines the thickness of the finished
panels.
3. TITANIUM FOAM- in general
Metallic Foam
Forget expanded polystyrene and spongey
elastomers: the foam you want to get your hands
on is made out of titanium. By saturating a
humble polyurethane foam with a solution of
titanium powder and binding agents, it's possible
to force the metal to cling to the shape of the
simple foam and then vaporise the underlying
structure away.
The result is a titanium lattice in the shape of the
original foam, which can be heat-treated to tweak
its material properties.
The exact properties depend on the porosity of the
foam, but the results are strong and—most
importantly—incredibly light. In fact, the material
is just perfect for replacing bone: it has incredibly
similar mechanical properties and, because it's
porous, new bone can grow and around its
structure, truly integrating the implant within the
skeleton.
Anything that gets us that much closer to a real-
life Wolverine is okay in our book.
4. GRAPHENE AEROGEL – upper level
Airloy
Graphene aerogel snatched the title of the world’s
lightest material just a few of months ago—with a
density lower than that of helium and just twice
that of hydrogen at 0.16 mg/cm3. This stuff
practically floats.
The material was actually created using a new
technique which involves freeze-drying solutions
of carbon nanotubes and graphene to create a kind
of carbon sponge.
The resulting material is both strong and elastic, as
well as incredibly light; it can even absorb up to
900 times its own weight in oil. When—or if—it
becomes affordable, that means it could be used to
mop up massive oil spills with ease, or even as an
incredibly efficient version of humble old
insulation.
5. ARBOFORM – Liquid wood
TECNARO GmbH develops, produces and markets
ARBOFORM® (lat.: arbor — the tree), a sustainable thermoplastic
material, with a capacity of 5,000t annual output at present, which
can be increased easily.
ARBOFORM® is made from 100% renewable raw materials and,
because of its origin and composition, is mainly used for injection
moulded wood applications.
ARBOFORM® brings two industries together. It puts the wood
processing industry in a position to make products with design
geometries that in the past were only feasible economically with the
use of plastics. And, conversely, it puts the plastics processing
industry in the position to process the warm material wood just like
a conventional thermoplastic material.
Quality principle Sometimes thermoplastic materials from
renewable resources may exhibit considerable quality variation. But
the matrix of ARBOFORM® consists of lignin, which is a by
product in the cellulose pulping process and so is just as highly
constant in its quality as the cellulose for papermaking.
The disposal of ARBOFORM® products is the same as for
naturally grown wood, i.e. by decay or incineration. The amount of
CO2 pollutant emitted in the process is no more than was previously
fixed from the atmosphere by the plants while growing.