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EP-4734747-A2 - NON-WOVEN BIODEGRADABLE STRAW MATS

EP4734747A2EP 4734747 A2EP4734747 A2EP 4734747A2EP-4734747-A2

Abstract

Methods for producing fully biodegradable straw mats for use with aquaponic systems, for soil erosion control, for weed mitigation, for controlled release fertilization, for packaging; for building construction insulation; and for other industrial and agricultural purposes.

Inventors

  • GRESSEL, JONATHAN

Assignees

  • Yeda Research and Development Co. Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20240626

Claims (20)

  1. 1. A method of manufacturing a biodegradable straw mat comprising the steps of: providing straw; providing a biodegradable adhesive; providing a system of providing heat under pressure; applying the biodegradable adhesive to the straw; placing the straw with applied biodegradable adhesive in a desired random pattern into the system of providing heat under pressure; pressing the straw under heat, thereby flattening and cross-linking the straw and curing the biodegradable adhesive to produce the biodegradable straw mat.
  2. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of pressing the straw is for a desired pressure, time and at a desired temperature until the bio-adhesive is cured.
  3. 3. The method of any one of Claims 1-2, wherein the step of providing the straw involves distributing randomly and evenly the straw into the system of providing heat under pressure at a desired thickness and desired dimension and desired pressure.
  4. 4. The method of any one of Claims 1-3, wherein the desired temperature is 80-110 degrees Celsius removing water from the straw and curing the adhesive.
  5. 5. A biodegradable straw mat comprising straw and a biodegradable adhesive, the biodegradable straw mat having a thickness ranging from 1 to 5 cm and contains 5-25% w/w bio-adhesive. 18 SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26)
  6. 6. The biodegradable straw mat of Claim 5, where preferably the thickness of the biodegradable straw mat is 1.5-2.5 cm.
  7. 7. The biodegradable straw mat of any one of Claims 5-6, wherein the biodegradable straw mat is used as a biofilter for aquaculture penned fish systems.
  8. 8. The biodegradable straw mat any of one of Claims 5-7, wherein the biodegradable straw mat has sufficient mat stiffness yet allows water to flow therethrough.
  9. 9. A biodegradable straw mat for use is as and for insulation, comprising straw and a biodegradable adhesive, the biodegradable straw mat having a thickness ranging from 8 to 15 cm and contains 5-25% w/w bio-adhesive.
  10. 10. The biodegradable straw mat of Claim 9, where preferably the thickness of the biodegradable straw mat is of 9.5 cm for the mats to be used between standard 10 cm wide wall studs or other thickness as desired for particular construction uses.
  11. 11. The biodegradable straw mat of any of one of Claims 9-10, where preferably the biodegradable straw mat contains 7.5-15% w/w bio-adhesive.
  12. 12. A biodegradable straw mat for use is as and for weed control, comprising straw and a biodegradable adhesive, the biodegradable straw mat having a thickness ranging from 1 to 5 cm and contains 5-25% w/w bio-adhesive.
  13. 13. The biodegradable straw mat of Claim 12, where preferably the thickness of the biodegradable straw mat is 1.5-3.0 cm. 19 SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26)
  14. 14. The biodegradable straw mat of any of one of Claims 12-13, where preferably the biodegradable straw mat contains 5-15% w/w bio-adhesive.
  15. 15. The biodegradable straw mat of any of one of Claims 12-14, where the biodegradable straw mat is “looser” more flexible and a mat which will biodegrade more quickly.
  16. 16. A biodegradable straw mat for use is as and for a bio-filter, comprising straw and a biodegradable adhesive, the biodegradable straw mat having a thickness ranging from 1 to 5 cm and contains 5-25% w/w bio-adhesive.
  17. 17. The biodegradable straw mat of any one of claims 5-16, wherein the bio-adhesive is 13% w/w OC BioBinder™ Lily 1450 polylactic acid-based bio-adhesive.
  18. 18. The biodegradable straw mat of any one of claims 5-17, wherein the biodegradable straw mat is used for soil erosion mitigation.
  19. 19. The biodegradable straw mat of any one of Claims 5-18, wherein the biodegradable straw mat is used for weed killing and weed control.
  20. 20. The biodegradable straw mat of any one of Claims 5-19, wherein the biodegradable straw mat further includes a fungicide.

Description

TITLE OF INVENTION NON-WOVEN BIODEGRADABLE STRAW MATS CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application claims the benefit of priority of United States Provisional Patent Application Ser. No 63/523,551 entitled GENERATION OF BIOBASED, NONWOVEN STRAW MATS FOR MULTIPLE GREEN USES, filed on June 27, 2023, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. TECHNICAL FIELD [0002] The instant invention pertains to the providing of biodegradable matting produced by combining straw with a biodegradable adhesive; and their use as filters for penned fish, applied to soil for erosion prevention and weed control as well as their use as a packaging material and insulation. Further industrial, medical and scientific uses of the instant invention should be appreciated from the following description and disclosure. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] About half of above ground grain crop biomass is wasted: that is, the dried stalks or stems that bore the grain. Most of the world’s two billion tons of rice, wheat, and maize straw produced annually have a negative economic value and negative ecological impact in the world. Much of the above ground grain crop biomass typically had been burnt after harvest until environmental rules predominantly prohibited this practice, necessitating use of fungicides to control residual pathogens or excess cultivation to bury the straw. [0004] Straw temporarily binds mineral nutrients if and after being plowed-under, 1 SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) often requiring additional fertilizer for a successful following crop. This excess fertilizer also has negative economic impact and environmental consequences due to wastage, runoff and contamination of water. [0005] Small amounts of straw are fed to ruminants as roughage or as an extender or fdler to animal feeds; however, very little caloric value is derived from straw itself, as most of what remains in straw by harvest time are hemicelluloses (mainly xylans) and cellulose, but their enzymatic biodegradation is heavily prevented by a smaller component of lignin and thus are of little nutritional value (Gressel, Vered et al. 1983). [0006] Straw Use in Aquaculture [0007] As may be appreciated, the industrial aquaculture of fish results in the large-scale production of fish excrement. These excrements of caged farmed fish, pollute surrounding waters; and become a waste of utilizable mineral nutrients. [0008] The soluble wastes of large scale intensive on-land aquaculture fisheries are typically filtered through sophisticated systems which utilize bacteria on beads to denitrify ammonia and urea to dinitrogen gas (Shnel, Barak et al. 2002), a loss of the considerable energy used to produce urea and ammonia. [0009] Straws and other agricultural wastes are added to some fishponds to absorb urea and ammonia; typically via a biofilm of periphyton bacteria and fungi that grows on the straw using the inherent lignin and carbohydrates from the straw itself as their carbon source; together with the bound ammonia, nitrates and soluble phosphorous emanating from the fish excretions as sources of nitrogen and phosphate, thus providing a complete medium for periphyton growth (Umesh, Shankar and Mohan 1999, Mridula, Manissery et al. 2005, Thomas, Lalramchhani et al. 2020). Fish directly consume the periphyton or indirectly via crustaceans and other zooplankton which derive their nutrition from the periphyton, thus requiring less exogenous feeding (Rai, Yi et al. 2008). [0010] Tragically, there has been no cost-effective solution to prevent the pollutive runoff from fish penned in cages into open bodies of water (that is; lakes, rivers, 2 SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) seas, and oceans). [0011] Bio-adhesives [0012] There is vast literature related to the production of biobased adhesives that are themselves biodegradable. The market for such products is broad and large (Anonymous 2022). [0013] The bio-adhesive lignin was first mentioned in 1813 by the Swiss botanist A. P. de Candolle, who described it as a fibrous, tasteless material, insoluble in water and alcohol but soluble in weak alkaline solutions, and which can be precipitated from solution using acid. He named the substance "lignine", which is derived from the Latin word lignum, meaning wood. Lignin is one of the most abundant organic polymers known, exceeded only by cellulose and chitin. [0014] Publications describing adhesives based on waste lignin products are known , (Frazier 2023) (Yang, Gong et al. 2023, Mili, Hashmi et al. 2022) along with lignin composites with glyoxal (Siahkamari, Emmanuel et al. 2022), polyurea (Liu, Fang et al. 2020), as well as epoxy (Li, Gutierrez et al. 2018); all suggesting that these adhesives may be used for gluing wood, especially in plywood production. Despite these publications, few companies are known to commercialize lignin based bio-adhesives. [0015] Other known bioproducts have been modified to enhance their use of adhesives, esp