• Canadian hemp and flax producers are faced with major challenges associated with hemp production, which is biomass and waste disposal generated post-harvest of the plants.

• The aim of our invention resides in upcycling the wastes to high value lignocellulose/cellulose-rich products.

The invention herein in particular is a bio-based aerogel derived from crystalline cellulose extracted from plants’ stem fiber waste, particularly flax and hemp bast fibers. The resulting aerogel products ranged from continuous sheets (obtained from flax fiber waste), or beads (obtained from hemp fiber waste). The core of this approach lies in the high percent recovery of nano-cellulose fibers from biomass waste materials. The invention is directed towards reducing the high manufacturing cost of aerogels which is a major limiting factor in their commercialization and large-scale production. In addition, it is the aim to produce biocompatible, biodegradable, and thermally stable bio-aerogel that can have various application as insulators, medical materials, and aerospace materials.

Project team: Dr. Sepideh Pakpour, Dr. Michael Deyholos, Sahar Alousi, Dr. Barabra Milow (DLR), Dr. Kathirvel  Ganesan (DLR), Marina Schwan (DLR)