Head of Laboratory Hubert Hettegger and his team at the newly opened Christian Doppler Laboratory for Cellulose High-Tech Materials at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna are researching the properties, characterisation, sustainable production and (re)processing of cellulose-based materials in the spirit of true "green chemistry": Numerous industries in this field (such as paper and large parts of the textile industry) already rely on renewable raw materials in the form of biomass, but for a sustainable chemical process all process properties - for example solvents, recyclability and by-products - must also be sustainable, not just the raw materials used.
Supported by commercial partners Lenzing AG, Metadynea Austria GmbH, Papierfabrik Wattens GmbH & Co KG and VTL GmbH, the new CD Laboratory, whose opening was atmospherically accompanied by the BOKU brass band, is conducting valuable basic research on important topics of "green chemistry" in this context, from increasing the general understanding of cellulose chemistry at the molecular level to the specific combination of cellulose and renewable raw materials with modern, sustainable modification methods: Thus, strengthening and densification strategies for cellulose-based filter products, possibilities for safe and efficient production of cellulose fibres, binders based on cellulose and biomass, as well as environmentally friendly textile dyeing will be researched and elaborated.
Further information on the CD Laboratory
Press release (BOKU Wien)