Addressing a sticking point in sustainable adhesives

解决可持续粘合剂的一个痛点

Petroleum-based adhesives are everywhere: bonding the wood and drywall in a construction project, holding together the joints of furniture, and even sticking labels to otherwise recyclable containers. 石油基粘合剂无处不在：它们用于建筑工程中木材和干墙的粘合，固定家具的接缝，甚至将标签贴在原本可回收的容器上。

“The labels on a container are held up with petroleum-based glue. And because of that, even though you’re putting the container in the recycle bin, it will not get recycled,” says Patty Ferreira, MBA ’97, CEO and cofounder of Silvis Materials, which is combating this problem with its fully biodegradable cellulose adhesives. Silvis Materials 的首席执行官兼联合创始人 Patty Ferreira（1997届工商管理硕士）表示：“容器上的标签是用石油基胶水粘上去的。正因如此，即使你把容器放进了回收箱，它也无法被回收。”该公司正致力于利用其完全可生物降解的纤维素粘合剂来解决这一问题。

When Ferreira began thinking about bio-based adhesives, in 2014, she started by modifying cellulose’s existing role as a stabilizer in adhesive emulsions and replicating the known adhesive properties of more expensive nanocellulose. 2014 年，当 Ferreira 开始构思生物基粘合剂时，她首先从改良纤维素在粘合剂乳液中作为稳定剂的现有作用入手，并复制了更昂贵的纳米纤维素所具备的已知粘合特性。

Today, the formula can make adhesives from virtually every type of plant cellulose, and the MIT Startup Exchange (STEX) is helping Silvis work with packaging and construction companies to test the results. 如今，该配方几乎可以利用任何类型的植物纤维素制造粘合剂，麻省理工学院创业交流中心（STEX）正在帮助 Silvis 与包装和建筑公司合作，对这些成果进行测试。

She expects the adhesive to cut production emissions by up to 80% and use half the energy of fossil-based glues. 她预计，这种粘合剂可将生产排放量减少高达 80%，且能耗仅为化石基胶水的一半。