Plastics Grown in Gardens
—Plastics made from plants used as PC parts
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| Photo 1 Used for dummy cards of LaVie laptop PCs |
It is important to reduce the environmental impact of the plastics used in the bodies and other parts of PCs. NEC has been tackling this kind of less obvious but important problem. We had excellent results from one such activity in 2004.
"This is a part made of plastics created from plants." The man providing this explanation of a PC dummy card in his hand is Mr. Masatoshi Iji, Dr. Eng., Senior Manager of the Eco Material, Fundamental and Environmental Research Laboratories at NEC Corporation. A dummy card is a plastic card the size of a memory card that is inserted in the memory card slot of a PC at the time of purchase. NEC started using plastics made from plants in dummy cards for the LaVie series of laptop PCs released in September 2004 (Photo 1).
The raw materials used for this plastic are actually corn and kenaf, an annual plant of the Malvaceae family. This bio-plastic is derived almost 100% from plant material. Plastics made from corn as a raw material are being developed by various companies, but NEC has achieved a considerable improvement in strength and heat resistance by mixing kenaf fiber. Iji commented on about the advantages of plant-derived plastics, "they help to economize exhaustible resources such as petroleum and lower the amount of CO2 emissions, which cause global warming." Since plants grow by consuming CO2, CO2 emissions can be cut in half during manufacturing compared with the use of petroleum-derived plastics. And since plant-derived plastics are broken down by microorganisms in the soil when they are discarded, they also contribute to reducing the amount of waste in landfills.
NEC is currently conducting research on increasing the fire resistance of plant-derived plastics, and we plan to establish the technology required for commercialization in FY 2006. The increase in fire resistance will be achieved without using any of the hazardous substances that are used in conventional plastics. Harmless plastics featuring flame resistance will be achieved through the addition of metalhydroxide and other materials that provide safe heat absorption characteristics.
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| Photo 2 Mr. Masatoshi Iji, Dr. Eng., Senior Manager of the Eco Material, Fundamental and Environmental Research Laboratories at NEC Corporation |
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NuCycle, a flame-resistant plastic that does not use hazardous substances |
NEC began developing environmentally friendly plastics ten years ago. Initially, the aim was to develop a highly safe plastic free of the harmful halogen or phosphorus based flame retardants used in conventional plastics. The plastics used in electronic devices need to be flame resistant to prevent fires. Normally, halogen or phosphorus based compounds are used for the flame retardant. However, halogen compounds may cause emissions of dioxins and other harmful substances when they burn, making them difficult to dispose of or recycle appropriately. Phosphorus compounds, on the other hand, present a risk of chronic toxicity.
NEC therefore developed a totally new plastic called NuCycle™, which is flame resistant because it has a highly safe silicon based flame retardant. This new material has been successfully used as the main material for the casings of office automation equipment such as PCs. At present, NuCycle is used in 20% to 30% of the computers made by NEC, and its use is set to further expand. "We aim for the world's highest level of safety," said Mr. Iji proudly. NEC further reduced environmental impact by developing plant-derived plastics, and after approximately three years, we succeeded in commercializing such plastics.
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Achieving shape-memory plant derived plastics |
NEC's achievements of development were not limited to these examples. In June 2004, the company succeeded in developing a plant-derived plastic featuring shape memory as a new function. When heated up, this plastic can be deformed at will, and when heated up again, it regains its original form. The temperature at which this plastic can be deformed is just 60°C, allowing a common hairdryer to be used to heat it up.
An outstanding aspect of this new plastic is that, in addition to featuring shape memory, it can also be recycled. Petroleum-derived plastics with shape memory have been developed, but their use never took off because they cannot be recycled. The challenge of achieving a recyclable shape-memory plastic was solved through various innovations.
Shape-memory plastics will be put to various uses. In the case of NEC products, expected applications are for PCs and mobile phones. As PCs become increasingly thin, they risk getting deformed if pressure is applied on them while they become hot. Thus, if they have shape-memory plastic, their original shape can be restored by simply using a hairdryer. It would also be possible for our customers to shape their mobile phones as desired. Such mobile phones could be fastened around one's wrist like a watch or given any other convenient shape, serving as a universal design that can easily be used by anybody. Since shape-memory plastics, after being shaped, can be returned to their original form, they allow users to change their shapes whenever desired. Shape-memory plastics are drawing interest from various fields and are an object of high expectations, particularly in the medical and social welfare fields.
"At first, the meaning of reducing the environmental impact of materials met with little understanding, but now we get many requests from product developers, and it's gotten to the point where development cannot keep up!" said Mr. Iji with a mixture of delight and frustration. Mr. Iji has tirelessly worked on the development of plastics that have a low environmental impact. His goal, and ours, is to replace 10% of conventional plastics with plant-derived plastics by 2010. Mr. Iji went on to declare that he intends to further pursue developing environmentally friendly materials.
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| Photo 3 Shape-memory plastics, once deformed (left), regain their original shape when heated up (right) |
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