This "Wood Watch" wrist watch casing is made from Arboform "liquid wood".
Arboform shows very little mould shrinkage. So it allows very tight manufacturing tolerances to be met. Creep properties are good which is utilized in the constant pressure from the springs in the watch casing.
Unlike the use of plastics, which show sink marks in the situation, there is no problem in changing wall thicknesses from 1 mm to, for instance, as much as 50 mm in one step.
Sergio Rossi’s is a brand committed to ecological development and has taken the steps to design a pair of shoes that uses materials that are environmentally friendly and eco-sensitive.
Working in collaboration with German research institute, Fraunhofer Institut (where Arboform was developed) to show responsibility towards our planet, the new Sergio Rossi eco-pump has heels and soles that have been moulded in liquid wood (Arboform) and contains a low percentage of leather waste.
Sergio Rossi has taken a enormous leap forward in this design, also choosing tanners that are eco-sensitive and using bio-degradable material for both shoe and packaging.
“In a few months’ time, we hope to start production of artists’ crayons and cosmetic pencils,” states Jürgen Pfitzer, who founded the company together with colleague Helmut Nägele in 1998. “Our close ties with the Fraunhofer Institute give us every confidence that our extruder will be able to achieve the required product quality.” At present, top-quality artists’ crayons are still manufactured from imported cedar wood, while lip and eyebrow pencils are generally made using conventional petroleum-based plastics.
The original Arboform in coin form stamped with the TECHNARO trademark
TECNARO GmbH develops, produces and markets ARBOFORM
TECHNARO have been sourced for baby toys, furniture, castings for watches, designer loudspeakers (Arboform has wood-like acoustic qualities), golf tees that degrade on the course and even coffins.
Regular plastics cost between 70 cents and $3.20 per pound, the price for Arboform starts at $1.70 per pound. Technaro sell and produce Arboform products by commission. Their contact detail are as follows:
Technaro GmbH Producer of Arboform® "liquid wood" using injection moulding. Links www.arboform.org
Renamed the European Inventor Awards, the 2010 awards ceremony took place in Madrid, Spain on 28 April 2010. The winners were:
Jürgen Pfitzer and Helmut Nägele (Germany), in the SMEs/research category, who made a breakthrough by developing an easily formable, biodegradable organic polymer.
Albert Markendorf (Switzerland) and Raimund Loser (Germany), in the Industry category, whose portable 3D scanning and measuring system opened up a new level of accuracy in industrial measuring systems and revolutionised the field.
Sanjai Kohli and Steven Chen (USA), in the Non-European countries category (joint winners), whose work paved the way for GPS systems that are used commercially and are a part of our everyday lives.
Ben Wiens and Danny Epps, two Canadians who developed electrochemical fuel cells which are now a commercially successful alternative to fossil fuels, for which they too were honoured in the Non-European countries category (joint winners).
Wolfgang Krätschmer (Germany), who discovered a whole new field of research in physics, for which he was honoured in the Lifetime achievement category.
The ceremony at the Eurostars Tower Hotel was attended by Their Royal Highnesses Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia of Asturias.
Here is a great video for Arboform. This was filmed at the Technaro laboratory in Germany. Was very lucky to find this copy- only one in english!
Some highlights of the video are:
“After trying out many different things, we ended up sticking with lignin partly because it also fulfils other criteria among others it is widely available and is of consistent quality”
“They set up a firm in southern Germany where there produced the environmentally friendly plastic”
“The firms customers also include auto maker Porsche”
“We were starting with no business experience; we were scientists so we first had to learn how to run a company”
“We now have 16 employees”
“Strength and melting temperature are tested for each batch produced”
“It is completely biodegradable unlike all other practices”
The pair were awarded the 2010 European inventor prize.
German Scientists Juergen Pfitzer and Helmut Naegele developed Arboform in the late 1990’s (with the help of Helmut Naegele, Norbert Eisenreich and Wilhelm Eckl and Emilia Inone-Kauffmann) at the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology ICT. .
They discovered that that lignin, a key ingredient in every piece of wood, when mixed the right way can be turned into a renewable plastic that is still biodegradable.
Lignin + resins + flax + other natural fibers = mass that can be processed like any other thermoplastic material.
“The cellulose industry separates wood into its three main components – lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose,” explains ICT team leader Emilia Regina Inone-Kauffmann. “The lignin is not needed in papermaking, however. Our colleagues at TECNARO mix lignin with fine natural fibers made of wood, hemp or flax and natural additives such as wax. From this, they produce plastic granulate that can be melted and injection-molded.”
