With the continuous improvement of global awareness of environmental protection and the increasingly urgent demand for sustainable development, traditional materials face many challenges, and wheat environmentally friendly materials have emerged as an emerging bio-based material. This article elaborates on the characteristics, research and development and production status of wheat environmentally friendly materials, deeply analyzes its application prospects in packaging, textiles, construction, agriculture and other fields, and explores the opportunities and challenges faced, looking forward to future development trends, aiming to provide a comprehensive reference for relevant industry practitioners, researchers and policy makers, and help promote the widespread application and industrial upgrading of wheat environmentally friendly materials.
1. Introduction
In today’s era, environmental issues have become one of the key factors restricting the development of human society. Traditional materials such as plastics and chemical fibers have caused a series of serious problems such as resource shortages, high energy consumption, and white pollution during production, use and waste treatment. Against this background, it is urgent to find renewable, degradable and environmentally friendly alternative materials. As an important food crop widely grown in the world, wheat’s by-products in the processing process, such as wheat straw and wheat bran, have been found to have huge material development potential. Wheat environmentally friendly materials transformed by innovative technologies are gradually emerging and are expected to reshape multiple industrial patterns.
2. Overview of wheat environmentally friendly materials
Sources and ingredients of raw materials
Wheat environmentally friendly materials are mainly derived from wheat straw and bran. Wheat straw is rich in cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, and these natural polymers provide basic structural support for the material. Cellulose has the characteristics of high strength and high crystallinity, which gives the material toughness; hemicellulose is relatively easy to degrade and can improve processing performance; lignin enhances the rigidity and water resistance of the material. Wheat bran is rich in dietary fiber, protein and a small amount of fat, minerals, etc., which can supplement the deficiency of straw components and optimize material performance, such as improving flexibility and surface properties, making it more suitable for diversified processing technology.
Preparation process
Currently, the preparation process of wheat environmentally friendly materials covers physical, chemical and biological methods. Physical methods such as mechanical crushing and hot pressing molding, which crush the straw and then shape it under high temperature and high pressure, are simple to operate and low in cost. They are often used to prepare primary products such as disposable tableware and plates; chemical methods include esterification and etherification reactions, which use chemical reagents to modify the molecular structure of raw materials to improve the adhesion and water resistance of materials to meet higher requirements for packaging and textile applications, but there is a risk of chemical reagent residues; biological methods use microorganisms or enzymes to degrade and transform raw materials. The process is green and gentle, and high value-added fine materials can be prepared. However, the long fermentation cycle and high cost of enzyme preparations limit large-scale applications, and most of them are in the laboratory research and development stage.
3. Advantages of wheat environmentally friendly materials
Environmental friendliness
From the perspective of life cycle assessment, wheat environmentally friendly materials have shown their advantages. Its raw material growth process absorbs carbon dioxide and releases oxygen, which helps to alleviate the greenhouse effect; the production process has low energy consumption, which greatly reduces the dependence on fossil energy compared to petroleum-based plastic synthesis; the waste treatment after use is simple, and it can be biodegraded quickly in the natural environment, generally decomposing into harmless water, carbon dioxide and humus in a few months to a few years, effectively solving the environmental problems such as soil pollution and water blockage caused by the “hundred-year non-corrosion” of traditional plastics.
Resource Renewability
As an annual crop, wheat is widely planted and has a huge global output every year, which can continuously and stably provide sufficient raw materials for material preparation. Unlike non-renewable resources such as oil and coal, as long as agricultural production is reasonably planned, wheat raw materials are almost inexhaustible, which ensures the long-term supply chain of the material industry, reduces the industrial risks caused by resource depletion, and conforms to the concept of circular economy.
Unique performance
Wheat environmentally friendly materials have good heat insulation and sound insulation properties, which are derived from its internal porous fiber structure. Air fills it to form a natural barrier, which has significant advantages in the field of building insulation boards; at the same time, the material is light in texture and has a low relative density, which reduces the weight of the product and facilitates transportation and use. For example, in the field of aerospace packaging, it reduces costs while ensuring protective performance; in addition, it also has certain antibacterial properties. The natural ingredients in wheat straw and wheat bran have an inhibitory effect on the growth of some microorganisms, extending the shelf life of the product, and has broad prospects in food packaging applications.
4. Application fields of wheat environmentally friendly materials
Packaging industry
In the field of packaging, wheat environmentally friendly materials are gradually replacing traditional plastic packaging. In terms of disposable tableware, plates, lunch boxes, straws, etc. made of wheat straw are similar in appearance to plastic, but are non-toxic and tasteless, and do not release harmful chemicals when heated, meeting the needs of food delivery. Some large chain catering companies have begun to try and promote them; in express packaging, cushioning materials, envelopes, and cartons made of it are used to fill the lining, which has good cushioning performance, protects the goods and is degradable at the same time, reducing the accumulation of express garbage. E-commerce platforms and express companies have piloted it, and it is expected to reshape the green logistics packaging system.
Textile industry
Cellulose fiber is extracted from wheat straw and wheat bran, and processed into a new type of textile fabric through a special spinning process. This type of fabric is soft and skin-friendly, breathable, and has better moisture absorption than pure cotton. It is dry and comfortable to wear, and has its own natural color and texture. It has unique aesthetic value and has emerged in the fields of high-end fashion and home furnishings. Some fashion brands have launched limited edition wheat fiber clothing, which has attracted market attention and injected vitality into the development of sustainable fashion.
Construction industry
As a building insulation material, wheat environmentally friendly panels are easy to install, and the insulation effect is comparable to that of traditional polystyrene panels, but without the latter’s flammability and toxic gas release hazards, improving the fire safety of buildings; at the same time, they are used for interior decoration, such as wall decorative panels and ceilings, to create a natural and warm atmosphere, and can also adjust indoor humidity, absorb odors, and create a healthy living environment. Some ecological building demonstration projects have adopted them in large quantities, leading the trend of green building materials.
Agricultural field
In agricultural production, seedling pots and mulch made of wheat environmentally friendly materials play an important role. Seedling pots can be naturally degraded, and there is no need to remove the pots when transplanting seedlings, avoiding root damage and improving the survival rate of transplanting; degradable mulch covers farmland, retains moisture and increases temperature to promote crop growth, and decomposes itself after the growing season ends, without affecting the next crop cultivation, solving the problem of traditional plastic mulch residues polluting the soil and hindering agricultural operations, and promoting sustainable agricultural development.
V. Challenges faced by the development of wheat environmentally friendly materials
Technical bottlenecks
Despite progress in research and development, technical difficulties still exist. First, material performance optimization. In terms of improving strength and water resistance to meet complex usage scenarios, existing technologies cannot balance cost and performance, which restricts the expansion of high-end applications. Second, the production process is unstable, and the fluctuation of raw material ingredients in different batches leads to uneven product quality, making it difficult to achieve standardized large-scale production, affecting corporate investment confidence and market promotion.
Cost factors
At present, the cost of wheat environmentally friendly materials is higher than that of traditional materials. In the raw material collection stage, straw is scattered, the collection radius is large, and storage is difficult, which increases transportation and warehousing costs; in the production stage, advanced equipment relies on imports, biological enzyme preparations and chemical modification reagents are expensive, and although the production energy consumption is relatively low, it still accounts for a large proportion of the cost; in the early stage of market promotion, the scale effect has not been formed, and the unit product cost cannot be reduced. It is at a disadvantage in competing with low-priced traditional materials, which hinders consumers and enterprises from choosing.
Market awareness and acceptance
Consumers have long been accustomed to traditional materials and products, and have limited knowledge of wheat environmentally friendly materials. They are worried about their durability and safety, and have little willingness to buy; on the enterprise side, they are limited by cost and technical risks and are cautious about the transformation to new materials. In particular, small and medium-sized enterprises lack R&D funds and talents, and it is difficult to follow up in time; in addition, the downstream industrial chain is not well-equipped, and there is a lack of professional recycling and treatment facilities, which affects the recycling of waste products, and in turn inhibits the expansion of the front-end market of materials.
VI. Response strategies and development opportunities
Industry-university-research cooperation to break through technology
Universities, scientific research institutions and enterprises should work closely together. Universities should give full play to their advantages in basic research and explore new material modification mechanisms and biotransformation pathways; scientific research institutions should focus on process optimization, and jointly carry out pilot production with enterprises to overcome technical stability issues; enterprises should provide funds and market feedback to accelerate the industrialization of scientific research results, such as establishing joint R&D centers, and the government should matchmake and provide policy support to promote technological iteration and upgrading.
Policy support reduces costs
The government has introduced subsidy policies to provide transportation subsidies for raw material collection to reduce logistics costs; the production side provides tax exemptions for equipment purchases and new technology research and development to encourage enterprises to update technology; downstream enterprises that use wheat environmentally friendly materials, such as packaging and construction companies, are given green procurement subsidies to stimulate market demand, and through the support of the entire industrial chain, help reduce costs and narrow the price gap with traditional materials.
Strengthen publicity and enhance awareness
Use media, exhibitions, and popular science activities to publicize the advantages and application cases of wheat environmentally friendly materials through multiple channels, display product safety and durability certification, and eliminate consumer concerns; provide technical training and transformation guidance for enterprises, share successful case experiences, and stimulate corporate enthusiasm; establish industry standards and product identification systems, standardize the market, make it easy for consumers and enterprises to identify and trust, create a good industrial ecology, and seize green consumption and sustainable development market opportunities.
VII. Future Outlook
With continuous technological innovation, continuous improvement of policies, and improved market awareness, wheat environmentally friendly materials are expected to usher in explosive development. In the future, high-performance composite wheat materials will be born, integrating the advantages of various natural or synthetic materials, and expanding to high-tech fields such as automobiles and electronics; intelligent perceptible wheat materials will appear, real-time monitoring of the environment and food freshness, empowering smart packaging and smart homes; industrial clusters will be formed, and the whole chain from raw material planting, material processing to product recycling will develop in a coordinated manner, realizing efficient resource utilization and maximizing industrial benefits, becoming the core force of the global green materials industry, and laying a solid material foundation for the sustainable prosperity of human society.
VIII. Conclusion
Wheat environmentally friendly materials, with their outstanding environmental, resource and performance advantages, have shown broad prospects in many fields. Although they are currently facing many challenges such as technology, cost, and market, they are expected to break through the difficulties through the concerted efforts of all parties. Seizing the opportunity to vigorously develop will not only resolve the environmental crisis brought about by traditional materials, but will also give birth to emerging green industries, achieve a win-win situation of economic growth and environmental protection, open a new era in the field of materials, and create a better ecological home for future generations.