High Scientist: Check out Zeoform, A New Plastic Alternative Made from Hemp

Pretty impressive stuff…

Hemp has been around for centuries in as many varied uses as can be possible for a single material. After being totally illegal in the United States since the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 lumped hemp in with its cousin cannabis, commercial and legal hemp had not been grown for 56 years; recent legislation in Colorado has just yielded the first hemp crop in almost six decades.

Hemp has remained legal in other countries, however, which is why an Australian company is now producing products made of Zeoform, a revolutionary material that seems to be able to be made into just about anything.

According to their website, Zeoform is created by emulating a process called “hydroxyl bonding”; cellulose cells bond together naturally in water, and by exploiting this, they can create a compound that “sets as strong as ebony.”

Cellulose is one of the most abundant organic compounds under the sun, and the hemp plant contains 75% cellulose; the naturally occurring high cellulose content is why it is a great material from which to create Zeoform. The applications for this material are pretty much endless; it’s hard enough to substitute for plastic, but Zeoform can also be a good stand-in for wood, too.

Using natural plant materials to create colored dye allows this to be made into any color, and the extremely easy to work with nature of the material means it can be molded in just about any fashion. This means that you can make pretty much anything from Zeoform, and the pictures are certainly impressive.

Guitar made from hemp-derived plastic….sign me up!

We’re not the only ones impressed with Zeoform, and the company is currently looking to expand; if you’ve got some cash and want to invent in this incredible new, totally eco-friendly material while the getting is still good, hit them up at their website.

Check out other posts from Weedist’s High Scientist series!