The project: science towards new solutions.

Foam­Wood is the out­come of inge­nu­ity allied to exten­sive research on com­plex vis­coelas­tic flu­ids devel­oped by the Com­plex Sys­tems and Mate­ri­als research group at Aal­to Uni­ver­si­ty’s Applied Physics Department.

The project is part of the uni­ver­si­ty vision to build entre­pre­neur­ial soci­eties based on sus­tain­able devel­op­ment and shares the com­mit­ment to max­i­mize Aalto’s pos­i­tive soci­etal impact through the use and appli­ca­tion of research results.

FoamWood website

Why?

To help tack­le the envi­ron­men­tal issues caused by plas­tic pol­lu­tion, the Foam­Wood project has explored nov­el ways to pro­duce sus­tain­able, effi­cient, low-cost and bio-sourced mate­r­i­al solu­tions. We have devel­oped strong and light fiber-based mate­ri­als that present great ther­mal insu­la­tion and shock proof­ing properties.

FoamWood’s mis­sion is to be the game-chang­er in replac­ing plas­tic foams, such as poly­styrene and polyurethane, com­mon­ly used in the pack­ag­ing of frag­ile and ther­mal­ly sen­si­tive goods.

FoamWood website

How?

To meet this chal­lenge, we have designed a nov­el method to solid­i­fy foam struc­tures to pro­duce mate­ri­als with high load-bear­ing capac­i­ty in one direc­tion and insu­la­tion capac­i­ty in the oth­er direc­tion. This process allows the man­u­fac­tur­ing of large quan­ti­ties of bio-based, wood-like sol­id struc­tures result­ing in the mate­r­i­al we called FoamWood.

By using the sim­ple Foam­Wood method, we designed a con­tin­u­ous, mould free and fast-dry­ing foam man­u­fac­tur­ing process, with­out the need for any chem­i­cal addi­tives, extreme pres­sures or temperatures.

To fit con­sumer needs Foam­Wood can be made recy­clable, ful­ly biodegrad­able, flame retar­dant, or antimi­cro­bial, among others.

FoamWood website