Generation of biobased, biodegradable non-woven straw mats for multiple environmentally friendly uses

Two billion tons of grains straws are produced annually, most of which has a negative ecological value. A small proportion is fed to ruminants as a low calory roughage. Grain straws had been burnt to prevent pathogen spores from over-wintering, now requiring greater fungicide use if left on soil surface, or more fertilizer use when the straw is plowed under and then binds nutrients. Lignin from paper making had been dumped, but is now finding limited uses, including as a glue in plywood manufacture. We propose to find the right ratio of lignin and other biodegradable adhesives coated on straw along with ascertaining the optimal pressures and temperatures for binding the adhesives and them cross-link straw fibers into mats.

These slowly-biodegradable mats can be as: 1. Filters surrounding fish pens, binding pollutants from fish excrements, which are metabolized along with the straw by periphyton into material edible by fish as well as zooplankton eaten by fish. These filter mats may also prevent the movement of parasites into or out of the pens; 2. Mats used for erosion control on bare slopes until vegetated; 3. As insulation material in construction, where the carbon will be sequestered for decades; 4. As a compostable packaging material replacing polystyrene and bubble wrap; 5. Weed-preventing soil covering in organic and conventional agriculture. Such mats can be doped with ammonium and potassium as well as calcium and magnesium to be slowly released as fertilizer. Thus, by combining a negative environmental value waste materials with an adhesive we can generate mats that have very positive environmental benefits.