Professor Kenji Takahashi, Faculty of Biological Science and Technology, Institute of Science and Engineering, Kanazawa University and his research group have developed a robotic system for fully automated synthesis of plant-derived plastics (*1) in collaboration with TSUDAKOMA Corp. (Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan).
They started the collaboration for the design and development of a robot system in August 2022 and completedd a first-generation prototype at the end of March 2023. Further improvements that had been made by end of March 2024 led to a successful development of the synthesis robot system equipped with five reactors working in tandem. This robotic synthesis system will enable the production of 3,000 types of vegetable plastic materials per year.
The results of this project will contribute greatly to the construction of a future society based on circular design (*2), which does not depend on fossil resources. They will play an important role in transforming our society to one in which plastics are made from above-ground plant resources, which is one of the major engineering challenges in the world today.
Figure 1: World's first fully automated robot system developed for plant-derived (wood, rice straw, agricultural waste, etc.) resin synthesis.
【Glossary】
*1：Plant-derived plastics
A resin made by chemically modification of a macromolecule called cellulose that is a major constituent of plants.
*2： Circular design
A concept that underpins strategies for realizing a future society that is recycling-oriented and waste-free.
Click here to see the press release【Japanese only】
Researcher's Information：Kenji Takahashi
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