BIOMASS NANOFIBER

BiNFi-s, Biomass NanoFibers, are a series of ultra-fine fibers produced by Sugino's proprietary ultra high pressure water jet technology. These biomass fibers are derived from cellulose, chitin, chitosan, and silk with an average size of 10-20nm wide and several ㎛ long.

What is a Nanofiber?

A nanofiber is a fiber with a diameter in the nanometer range, typically ranging from a few nanometers to several hundred nanometers. These fibers are produced from various materials such as polymers, carbon, ceramics, or metals. Nanofibers have unique properties based on their material and due to their small size, including high surface area-to-volume ratio, flexibility, and strength.

In general, cellulose nanofibers/nano-cellulose, chitin nanofibers, and the like are used as raw materials. Applied development and research has been actively conducted in Japan and overseas in recent years.

Biomass nanofibers have low linear thermal expansion, effect elasticity, transparency, biocompatibility, antibacterial features, improvement of physiological functions, high strength, high aspect ratio, high specific surface area, high viscosity, high shape retention, and high hydrophilicity with applications across a variety of fields.

Sugino Harnesses the Power of Water

Sugino develops, manufactures, and sells nanofiber materials made from multiple source materials, with varying characteristics. Since 1964, we have utilized our own water jet technology and method to produce fibers made entirely by Sugino's proprietary equipment.

What is the Water Jet Method?

Applications

Chemical

Resin reinforcement materials, transparent substrates, etc.

Electronic

Electrode materials, conductive auxiliary materials, etc.

Fiber

Reinforcement materials, binder materials, adsorbents, filters, etc.

Cosmetics

BinFis fibers can be used in the cosmetic industry

Base agents, moisturizers, sunscreens, etc.

Food

Functional ingredients, thickeners, moisture and shape retention agents and more

Pharmaceuticals

Pharmaceutical applications for biomass nanofibers

Biocompatible materials, film agents, hemostatic agents, etc.

Building

Multi-functional building materials and interior materials, etc.

Pigments

Toner, color filter for liquid crystal, ink for printer and paint, etc.

What are Chitin, Chitosan, Cellulose, and Silk?

Cellulose nanofiber* (CNF) is a material made from plant-derived cellulose. It is the main component of the plant cell wall, and the most abundant polymer on earth. Annual production is estimated at more than 100 billion tons.

Its structure is an aggregate of microfibers (cellulose microfibrils) with a width of 3 to 4 nm with several tens of cellulose molecules bundled. Simple substance of microfibers or aggregate which is fibrillated into a width of tens of nanometer or less are collectively referred to as CNF.

As an example, CNF has 5 times the strength with 1/5 the lightness of steel, and its linear thermal expansion is as small as that of quartz glass. In addition, it has excellent characteristics and is being studied for application in various industries.

* In general, there are two types of nanocellulose: cellulose nanofiber (CNF) and cellulose nanocrystal (CNC). BiNFi-s cellulose is classified as CNF. Using cellulose as a raw material, nanofibers manufactured by mechanical fibrillation are CNF and nanofibers produced by acid hydrolysis are CNC. There is also TEMPO oxidized cellulose nanofiber (TOCN) which is manufactured by a combination of TEMPO catalytic oxidation and minor mechanical process. Each has its own characteristics and different usage depending on the application.

Chitin nanofiber is a material made from chitin extracted from crustacean shells. It is a main component of the exoskeleton of arthropods and the cell walls of fungi, and is the second largest macromolecule present on the earth next to cellulose. Moreover, the annual production is estimated to be almost the same as that of cellulose.

Chitosan is a cationic polymer obtained by deacetylating chitin.

Chitin nanofiber and chitosan nanofiber have the same structure and features as CNF as well as high biocompatibility, with great potential in the medical and pharmaceutical industries.

In addition, N-acetylglucosamine — glucosamine obtained by decomposing chitin — is drawing attention as a functional food.

Additional reading:

Production of Fungal Nanochitosan Using High-Pressure Water Jet System for Biomedical Applications

Suginio Biomass Nanofibers made from chitin from crustacean shells

Silk is a natural material made from the cocoons of silkworms – a fibrous substance composed of two proteins: sericin and fibroin.

Silk nanofiber (BiNFi-s silk) is made by defibrating silk using our unique water jet technology and converting it into nanofibers.

Sugino Machine is collaborating with the Toyama Prefectural Industrial Technology Research and Development Center (formerly the Toyama Prefectural Industrial Technology Center) to develop a manufacturing method that efficiently converts the raw silk into nanofibers using a specialized wet-type micronization device made in-house. Developed through research. (Joint patent application filed).

*Nano: 1/1 billionth

Features

Silk has traditionally been incorporated into cosmetics as an ingredient or additive and is known to effectively activate skin cells, moisturize, and block UV rays.

Because silk particles have a strong crystal structure, it is difficult to miniaturize them to a size of 1 µm (micron: 1/1000th of 1 mm) or less, which makes uniform dispersion and application a challenge.

By converting silk particles into nanofibers, we can impart functionality that makes them ideal for cosmetics and medical applications.

Characteristics of silk nanofiber

Specific surface area is improve with nanofiber formation
Thickening properties due to thixotropy
Improved dispersion stability of particles due to thickening effect
Forms a film more easily than particles

Biomass fibers from silk from Sugino BinFis

Cellulose nanofiber * (CNF) is a nanofiber material made from plant-derived cellulose.

Cellulose, the main component of the plant cell wall, is the most abundant polymer on earth. Annual production is estimated at more than 100 billion tons.

CNF has 5 times the strength with 1/5 lightness of steel and its linear thermal expansion is as small as that of quartz glass, and it has excellent characteristics, and its application in various industries is being studied.

Chitin nanofiber is a nanofiber material made from chitin extracted from crustacean shells.

Chitin, a main component of the exoskeleton of arthropods and the cell walls of fungi, is the second largest macromolecule present on the earth next to cellulose, and the annual production is estimated to be almost the same as that of cellulose.

Chitosan is a cationic polymer obtained by deacetylating chitin.

Chitin nanofiber and chitosan nanofiber have the same structure and features as CNF as well as high biocompatibility, with great potential in the medical and pharmaceutical industries.

In addition, N-acetylglucosamine · glucosamine obtained by decomposing chitin · chitosan is drawing attention as a functional food.

Silk is a natural material made from the cocoons of silkworms, and is a fibrous substance composed of two proteins: sericin and fibroin.

Silk nanofiber ``BiNFi-s silk'' is made by defibrating this silk using our unique water jet technology and converting it into nanofibers.

Sugino Machine is collaborating with the Toyama Prefectural Industrial Technology Research and Development Center (formerly the Toyama Prefectural Industrial Technology Center) to develop a manufacturing method that efficiently converts the raw material silk into nanofibers using a specialized wet-type micronization device made in-house. Developed through research. (Joint patent application filed).

*Nano: 1/1 billionth

Features

Silk has traditionally been incorporated into cosmetics as an ingredient or additive and is known to be effective in activating skin cells, moisturizing, and blocking UV rays.

Because silk particles have a strong crystal structure, it is difficult to miniaturize them to a size of 1 µm (micron: 1/1000th of 1 mm) or less, which poses problems in uniform dispersion and application.

By converting silk particles into nanofibers, the following functions can be imparted, making them ideal for cosmetics and medical applications.

Characteristics of silk nanofiber

Improvement of specific surface area by nanofiber formation
Thickening properties due to thixotropy
Improved dispersion stability of particles due to the thickening effect
Easier to form and form a film than particles

This is accordion content!

The BiNFi-s Lineup

See the Lineup

Table of biomass fibers types and characterstics from the lineup of BiNFis fibers available from Sugino

Note ^*1

Length varies depending on raw material size.

Note ^*2

It is a representative value, not a guaranteed value.

Note ^*3

It is a measurement value at 25 ° C and 60 rpm (B type viscometer).

Note ^*4

It is a measurement value by freeze-dried powder (BET method).

Note ^*5

WMa was integrated into WFo, AMa was integrated into AFo, and TMa was integrated into TFo.

NOTES:

*1: Length varies depending on raw material size.
*2: It is a representative value, not a guaranteed value.
*3: It is a measurement value at 25 ° C and 60 rpm (B type viscometer).
*4: It is a measurement value by freeze-dried powder (BET method).
*5: WMa was integrated into WFo, AMa was integrated into AFo, and TMa was integrated into TFo.

Characteristics

Explore the various characteristics of different types of BiNFi-s (Biomass Nanofibers)

Mass changes when 10g of BinFis was dried at 105 celsius

BiNFi-s has several types of raw materials and different fiber length types effective for improving water retention.

The conversion of raw materials into nanofibers increases the surface area by about 100-fold.

The higher the specific surface area, the more hydroxyl groups in contact with the water, the more hydrophilic it is, and the less likely it is to lose mass.

BiNFi s-chitin has a higher water retention due to its smaller textile diameter than BiNFi s-cellulose. In BiNFi s-cellulose, the shorter the fiber length, the higher the specific surface area, resulting in higher water retention.

Shear rate dependency of viscosity in Biomass Nanofibers

BiNFi-s has several types of raw materials and different fiber length types useful for viscosity adjustment.

All BiNFi-s are pseudoplastic fluids whose viscosity decreases with increasing shear rate.

Therefore, "a fluid with high viscosity but low viscosity when applied with force" can be produced. The shear rate dependency varies depending on the type of raw material and the textile length. Therefore, You can choose according to your purpose.