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.
