European researchers probing hemp cellulose for use in high-tech gels

German and French researchers are studying new ways to extract cellulose from waste hemp fibers to make aerogels, high-tech materials that have a wide range of industrial uses. While aerogels have historically been made from highly polluting inorganic matter such as silica or alumina, the research aims to advance their development from more eco-friendly organic polymers and carbon. “This opens the door to use waste hemp fibers as a main source of cellulose for these materials, which can be extracted under mild conditions, using cheap and safe reactants,” said Diogo Costa, a fellow in the Marie Skłodowska-Curie European Industrial Doctorate program who is researching the material as part of his wider study into biobased and circular economies. Costa’s research is funded by a grant from the Biobased Value Circle (BVC), a consortium of four European universities, one research institute and nine European companies