- Title: Eco microbeads producible on industrial scale, say UK scientists
- Date: 4th July 2017
- Summary: BATH, ENGLAND, UK (JUNE 27, 2017) (REUTERS) SCOTT POURING NATURAL MICROBEADS INTO TEST TUBE VARIOUS CLOSE-UPS OF NATURAL MICROBEADS IN TEST TUBE (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR JANET SCOTT, READER, UNIVERSITY OF BATH, SAYING: "We already know we can make them, for example, in different types of hardness. We know we can change the surface chemistry very subtly so that they're compatible with different formulations. But we'll be going further in making microcapsules and micro sponges which are used in all sorts of products. Microcapsules, for example, in clothes cleaning products to deliver perfumes or to deliver some of the active ingredients. And the microcapsules are quite exciting because those can also be used to deliver agrochemicals. It's an extremely important application. You wouldn't particularly want to be putting non-biodegradable capsules out into the environment when you're trying to protect your crops." VARIOUS OF SKINCREAM CONTAINING MICROBEADS TOOTHPASTE CONTAINING MICROBEADS HAIR CREAM CONTAINING MICROBEADS SHOWER GEL CONTAINING MICROBEADS WIDE OF PRODUCTS CONTAINING MICROBEADS
- Embargoed: 18th July 2017 11:04
- Keywords: plastic pollution microbeads ocean pollution waste plastic University of Bath
- Location: BATH, ENGLAND, UK
- City: BATH, ENGLAND, UK
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Life Sciences,Science
- Reuters ID: LVA0036OAY89N
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Microbeads found in everyday cosmetic products have become increasingly controversial in recent years, with calls by environmentalists for them to be banned.
The tiny pieces of plastic are included in exfoliating skin washes, abrasive cleaners, and even toothpastes. They are most often made from petrochemical plastics, such as polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene. Once flushed down the sink or shower the beads bypass water filtration systems, ending up in the sea, in wildlife, and thus through the entire food chain.
Now scientists and engineers at the University of Bath say they have an answer - biodegradable cellulose microbeads made from a sustainable source.
The beads are made from cellulose, the material that forms the strong fibres found in wood and plants.
According to lead researcher, Dr Janet Scott, from the University's Centre for Sustainable Chemical Technologies (CSCT): "If you were washing yourself once a day with traditional microbeads you would be putting between 80 and 100 thousand microbeads down the drain every time. We are replacing those with beads made from cellulose that should degrade in the waste water treatment plant, and not make it into the oceans."
A cellulose solution is forced through miniscule holes in a tubular membrane, creating spherical droplets which are washed away from the membrane using vegetable oil. The beads are collected, set, and separated from the oil before use.
The physical properties of beads can be made harder or softer, or in differing sizes, by changing the cellulose structure.
Davide Mattia, Professor of Chemical Engineering, told Reuters the team has developed a continuous process that could be scaled up for manufacturing.
"We use a small membrane, about one centimetre in diameter, and roughly 10 centimetres of active area. The membrane contains millions of pores, meaning we're making millions of microbeads," he said.
The microbeads are robust enough to remain stable in a bodywash, but can be broken quickly down by organisms at the sewage treatment works or in the environment. By contrast, chemical-based microbeads take hundreds of years to biodegrade.
Researchers believe they could use cellulose from many waste sources, such as the paper industry, making the technology renewable.
So far researchers have only made microbeads on the laboratory scale, but they are teaming up with UK firm Micropore Technologies to scale it up to commercial levels, using stainless steel membranes.
Micropore business development manager David Palmer told Reuters: "From a five micron pore membrane we can generate in the region of 15 micron droplets. We can go up to hundreds and hundreds of microns. Each application has a very specific requirement for particle size distribution. Our technology allows us to tailor particle size and its distribution at industrially meaningful flow rates. Instead of millilitres per hour we're talking litres per hour."
In Bath the research is diversifying into other areas.
"We'll be making microcapsules and micro sponges used in clothes cleaning products to deliver perfumes, for example," said Scott. "Microcapsules are exciting because those can also be used to deliver agrochemicals."
The research was published recently in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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