SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY
Sustainable hand cream
Chemists at EPFL have succeeded in turning wood into an emulsifier for cosmetic products.
It’s still in the lab, but this wood product is already pretty creamy. | Image: S. Bertella et al. (2022)
Leaving petroleum-based products behind in search of a new, sustainable chemistry: This is the goal of Jeremy Luterbacher’s research team at EPFL. For example, they are exploring how to extract lignin from birch wood in an innovative, one-step process. They can prevent the lignin from clumping together, and it is more soluble in water. The resulting emulsifier is odourless and is especially suitable for manufacturing cosmetic products – as is proven by a hand cream prepared by Luterbacher’s laboratory.
