As the report released in 25 March 2021, to make their bandages that the NTU team extracted cellulose the chief component of plant cell walls from durian husks and combined it with glycerol, a waste byproduct of the biodiesel manufacturing process. The organic molecules from baker’s yeast were then added to the gel to create a bandage that kills bacteria. Professor William Chen, the team’s leader and director of NTU’s food science and technology programme, said: “By using waste products that are currently discarded in large quantities durian husks and glycerol that they could turn waste into a valuable biomedical resource that can enhance the speedy recovery of wounds and reduce chances of infections. The other team members are research fellow Jaslyn Lee and doctoral candidates Cui Xi and Ng Kuan Rei. With Singapore importing 8,900 tonnes of durian in the first half of 2018, Prof Chen said that their novel use of the fruit’s husks would help reduce food waste. The organic gel bandage is non-toxic and biodegradable, and is thus expected to be more environment-friendly than conventional synthetic bandages. Tackling food and electronic waste, NTU scientists use fruit peel to turn old batteries into new ones. A 3kg durian can generate about 40g of cellulose in which is enough to make about 1,600 plasters measuring 1cm by 2cm. For those put off by the smell of durians, Prof Chen said that the gel does not retain the thorny fruit’s tang, which usually comes from the fruit’s flesh and not its husk. The extraction process also removes any residual smell from the cellulose. The product has yet to be commercialised, but Prof Chen said that he does not expect it to carry a hefty price tag.
This is because durian husks are inexpensive. His team has also developed a low-cost technological process to extract cellulose from the durian husk. In an extraction process dubbed “detergent treatment technology”, the husks are sliced, freeze-dried and ground into a fine powder before the impurities are removed. The process costs S$120 for every kilogram of durian husk. NTU scientists devise method to turn plastic waste into valuable chemicals using sunlight and by comparison, the more prevalent method of extracting cellulose relies on enzymes and it can cost as much as S$27,000 for every kilogram, Prof Chen said (See photo below). The technology can be applied to other natural materials as well. This means that even when durian is not in season, it can be used to extract cellulose from other raw materials such as barley grain or soya bean residue. The NTU team hopes to commercialise these durian-derived bandages in a year or two. Prof Chen said that the plan is to make the bandages available over-the-counter at pharmacies, so that consumers have more options. The motivation here is not to sell our antibacterial bandage, but to prove that sidestream food waste can be upcycled.
No comments:
Post a Comment