Technology
CELLULOSE PARTICLE SURFACTANTS
Introducing Celluspheres™
Celluspheres are a ground-breaking, bio-sourced, biodegradable surfactant made from cheap, plentiful and sustainable wood pulp.
Wood pulp is almost pure cellulose, made from weak or oddly-shaped wood rejected by the sustainable timber industry.
Celluspheres are novel particle surfactants.
Traditional surfactants are molecules (chemical compounds), but Celluspheres are cellulose particles around 0.2 microns across.
Celluspheres are thousands of times larger than typical surfactant molecules, and 5,000 of them laid edge to edge would measure just 1mm.
More than just tiny cellulose spheres.
Celluspheres are not just plain cellulose.
Celluspheres have one side covered in natural plant oils (e.g., canola, sunflower, or olive oil).
This coating makes one side lipophilic (oil-loving), while the cellulose side is hydrophilic (water-loving), creating amphiphilic particles that allow oil and water to mix — key for surfactants.
This artist’s concept shows what a single Cellusphere might look like if you could take a photo of it.
Lipophilic side covered in plant oil
Hydrophilic side of exposed cellulose
Made by waste-free reassembly
Celluspheres are made by physically rearranging cellulose from wood pulp into tiny spheres, then coating them with plant oil.
Unlike molecular surfactants, this process produces virtually no waste and is almost completely closed loop.