New Plastic “Zeoform” Turns Hemp Into Almost Anything

According to Zeoform, their product is very durable and relies only on the natural process of hydrogen bonding that takes place when cellulose fibres are mixed with water. No glue or bonding material is necessary because the bond created is already so strong. The final material can be formed into almost anything and can be cut, routed, machined, drilled, screwed, nailed, and glued in the same way wood and wood composites can be. It can also be coloured/dyed, and finished in any way creators like.

The material is inherently water- and fire-resistant and can be reinforced further in both categories with some small adjustments to ingredients. Zeoform can also be made into anything, from car parts to paper, moulds, furniture, and even musical instruments – the possibilities are endless.

New Plastic “Zeoform” Turns Hemp Into Almost Anything

Hopefully the claims made in this story are true. If the world ever runs out of oil it will need something like this.

Most plastics are made from oil and all the alternative energy solutions will not do anything to stop oil production. Oil is needed to make most synthetic drugs and most all plastic.

What if hemp could replace synthetic drugs and plastic? It can be used to make much better paper than that which is made from trees too.

I'm gonna say the applications for 3d printing are gonna be epic.

Remember that in this country growing hemp was considered illegal. Hemp was used for many things before, I do not think that this knowledge about hemp's utilization in polymers is new, just old cast aside knowledge which the plastic industry benefited from over the years.

I would bet that some politician was highly invested in some company that made stuff like nylon rope or synthetic fabrics and pushed for Hemp growing to be made illegal. Politicians did that over and over again. It brings to mind corn gas, some good friends of a politician grew corn and wanted to make a mint, so ethynol in gas was pushed as a renewable resource and promoted as eco-friendly. Corn gas is far more destructive of the environment than gas is Mostly because of all the bad chemistry added to the corn to increase yeild which depletes the soils and poisons the land and sea. I expect if a politician is involved, they will destroy our environment with growing Hemp at extreme measures and further deplete the soils.

Hemp is eco-friendly as long as they use good farming practices to grow it.

a reply to: LookingAtMars

Gives a new meaning to a "high chair."

I'm ready to make my first 3d modeling hemp gun. I'll make 2 versions with one being 9m and the other .45 we will call them the Cheech and Chong

Dope.

originally posted by: Xtrozero
I'm ready to make my first 3d modeling hemp gun. I'll make 2 versions with one being 9m and the other .45 we will call them the Cheech and Chong

Won't they go Up in smoke?

a reply to: LookingAtMars

This is great news!

If you haven't seen it already, there is an interesting read from 1937 Popular Mechanics called "The Billion Dollar Crop," written just before marijuana was criminalized, and published just after. There's a description of the article here:

Back When We Thought Hemp Would Be a Billion-Dollar Crop

And you can read an archived copy of the article here (on page 238):

New Billion Dollar Crop (Popular Mechanics 1937)

originally posted by: rickymouse

I would bet that some politician was highly invested in some company that made stuff like nylon rope or synthetic fabrics and pushed for Hemp growing to be made illegal.

That would be Robert Dupont of Dupont Corporation... he was, at least, one of them.

Hemp is eco-friendly as long as they use good farming practices to grow it.

One of the beauties of hemp farming is that it does not need much in the way of fertilizers or pesticides; herbicides would probably be the biggest concern. Roots and stumps can be re-tilled into the soil to fertilize the soil.

Another beauty is that most regions can support two crops a year, some southern regions can even do three.

I expect future hemp farming to increasingly focus on industrial strains, and also high CBD strains. The high THC strains have their place, but I expect with further research that CBD (and other cannabinoids) will be increasingly favored for medicinal uses.

a reply to: Boadicea

Back When We Thought Hemp Would Be a Billion-Dollar Crop

I pulled everything out of the market and went 420 green/hemp over a year ago.

www.cnn.com...

a reply to: LookingAtMars

Well that holds promise!
It appears to be a modern recipe
for good old Celluloid.
If so, much of that plastic floating
in the ocean could have been avoided.
What a crime.
Petroleum based plastic vs. Cellulose based plastic.
The technology is not new.
Rather, the Patents were controlled.
S&F

a reply to: LookingAtMars

We would have been using hemp for a multitude of purposes since the 1800s if the big paper manufactures and timber mill owners had the brains that God gave them and were interested in anything other than just profit.

This is amazing if the company's details are accurate. I wonder if this material could be processed on a smaller scale in any feasible manner?

Thanks, OP, this could be a game-changer and it's certainly exciting food for thought.

a reply to: Wildmanimal

It appears to be a modern recipe for good old Celluloid.

It says it's fire resistant, so I hope that means cue balls and other stuff made from it will not be blowing up. The celluloid back in the day was bad about that.

a reply to: The GUT

Making hemp legal in the US. Will turn out to have a huge impact for the good of our country, I believe.

a reply to: LookingAtMars

Well, happy campers are apt to play nice.

Canny be any worse than Floride in the water.

To be honest, the applications where hemp and cannabis are concerned are rather abundant.

Automotive tires would be something to think about.

a reply to: LookingAtMars

Only when it was near paper thin.
Paper was/is flammable too.
Like the Dynamite series, a buffer could
be added to the Celluloid composition to
increase flame retardness .
I will not argue further with
anyone as intellectually astute as you.
I only attempt to point out variables
known and unknown.

We really enjoy your threads.

a reply to: neo96

Their site says that it cannot be used on 3D printing as it is.

a reply to: LookingAtMars

Well your thumbnail is flame resistant
to a thermal degree as well.
If I had my crazy Uncle Sam put
his 6000 degree torch of truth
to your thumbnail,,,
The level of resistance would
be reduced to ...
well you know.