[Scientific and technological achievements] hydrophilic plant straw cat litter

Background Introduction
By 2022, the number of domestic pet cats is estimated to reach more than 6200 million, and the pet market is a fast-growing market of 100 billion.
One of the most important advances in cat culture is the use of cat litter. The early cat litter was mainly non-condensing cat litter, and everyone was mainly to receive cat litter. However, with the continuous progress of cat litter technology, people are not limited to the storage of such a simple, so the continuous emergence of bentonite, tofu sand, wood sand and crystal sand and so on.
Tofu cat litter is the mainstream product in the current market. The high quality tofu cat litter is prepared by mixing and granulating pea fiber, corn starch, guar gum and other core materials. However, the output of pea fiber is small and the price is high, which leads to the increase of cat litter cost. On the other hand, the industry products have been lack of technological innovation, and there is much room for improvement in deodorization capacity, water absorption capacity, agglomeration and dust control.
In 2019,Institute of Table Interface Micro-nano Technology(hereinafter referred to as "surface interface institute") after understanding the cat litter market, the team applied the super-hydrophilic modification technology developed for many years to the modification of crop/plant straw and shell powder, replacing pea fiber as the main material of cat litter, and developed a new category of cat litter--Hydrophilic plant straw cat litter, and through the industrialization company Tianjin Qingke Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd. successfully industrialized landing, with an annual production capacity of more than 20000 tons. Up to now, the technology of hydrophilic plant straw cat litter is still being updated iteratively. After more than 4 years of research and development, production and market precipitation, a series of new cat litter products have been derived.
Please come to understand the new generation of our table interfaceHydrophilic plant straw cat litterThe birth process ~

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　     Technical basis
Modification Technology of Super Hydrophilic Plant Fiber
Select crops/plants with high fiber content and low content of fat, protein and other perishable components as basic materials, such as straw, shell, etc., through physical crushing and puffing technology, improve the specific surface area of the material, and then use super hydrophilic modification technology to modify the basic fiber materials, forming super hydrophilic modified plant fiber materials, improve the water absorption and water absorption rate of plant fiber.

 

                                                           

Technical route

 

                                                                       

 

                                                        
                                                                             Original straw micro photo micro photo after modification

 

                                                                              
                                                                                                           Comparison of various types of fiber modified water absorption 

   
science and technology innovation
hydrophilic plant straw cat litter:
1. Patented technology, super absorbent
Crop straw, shell and other fibers are selected, and super hydrophilic modification technology (patent number: 202010311363.2) is adopted to load super hydrophilic groups on the fibers, so that the water absorption of the fibers is greatly enhanced. The particle size of 1.5 mm-2 mm is adopted, the particles are smaller and the water absorption is faster.
Due to the large amount of water absorption, the amount of cat litter used will be reduced, and the user's actual measurement can be reduced by more than 20%.

 

2. The group is tight and does not break up
Hydrophilic plant straw cat litter compared to traditional tofu cat litter, strong water absorption, more easily clumping. Under the condition of the same amount of water, the clumping is more compact, and the clumping is not scattered when falling at the same height.

 

3, innovative technology, more deodorant
Ammonia removal rate: 92.2%; Hydrogen sulfide removal rate: 93.8%
Adsorption: Compared with traditional tofu cat litter, modified porous plant fiber is used to make each cat litter a "plant activated carbon" through crushing and puffing technology, which instantly absorbs odor.
Decomposition: super hydrophilic plant straw cat litter added deodorizing factor, specifically for ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and other urine odor components, the odor decomposition.
Source control: abandon the bean dregs ingredients of traditional tofu cat litter, choose low-protein plant fiber, long-term storage is not easy to rot and sour, blocking the odor from the source

 

                                                               
　　　　　　　　　　                                          Ammonia removal rate 92.2 hydrogen sulfide removal rate 93.8%

 

                           

4, non-toxic harmless, zero formaldehyde
Plant cat litter strictly control the selection of raw materials, non-toxic and harmless, to ensure that the whole process is pollution-free.
By the international authority SGS acute oral toxicity test, the test results are non-toxic and harmless, not afraid of cats eating by mistake. And the product has been tested for a number of harmful substances, and the test results are up to standard.
At the same time, the product was also tested for food grade formaldehyde, and the test result was zero formaldehyde.
At present, many tofu cat litter products in China can detect a certain formaldehyde content, which directly endangers the health of cats.

 

             　　　      

                                                                                                 
5, Process improvement, low dust
Hydrophilic plant cat litter production line is equipped with more than 5 dust removal processes, so that the amount of plant cat litter dust is extremely low, which is superior to the existing tofu cat litter in the market. At the same time, through strict production and quality inspection control, batch stability is ensured.

 

6, fast dispersion, easy to flush water
Hydrophilic plant straw cat litter is loaded with super hydrophilic groups, so it has good water solubility. And can quickly disperse, more easily directly flush sewer, not clogged.

 

Plant Cat Litter

 

Traditional Tofu Cat Sand

 

Other Series Products
Based on the research and development of hydrophilic plant straw cat litter, according to the needs of users, the team has developed super deodorant plant mixed sand and antibacterial plant sand.

Super deodorant plant mixed cat litter
Product ingredients: 70% plant straw cat litter + 30% sodium bentonite sand
Core deodorization technology: ammonia removal rate: 93.4%; Hydrogen sulfide removal rate: 94.4%

 

                                                                

Bacteriostatic cat litter
Third-party testing and sterilization rate of 99.99 percent

 

                                                                                       

 

application value
On the one handIt has changed the situation that the upstream raw materials of tofu cat litter are monopolized and provided more new products for the future cat litter market;On the other handMost of the materials selected for hydrophilic plant straw cat litter are crop waste after harvest, and the annual output is large. If it is not handled correctly, it will cause environmental pollution and other risks. This kind of material has low cost and large stock. The rational use of hydrophilic plant straw cat litter can not only produce economic value, but also provide good social value for environmental governance and reduce carbon emissions.

Introduction to the Institute
In the Institute of Micro-nano Technology, there are not only the Yangtze River scholars and the Ministry of Education's outstanding talents in the new century and other leading talents in scientific and technological innovation, but also doctors and high-end talents from well-known universities at home and abroad. The team relies on the accumulation of scientific research achievements in the past ten years of mechanical coefficient of Tsinghua University. With the policy support of Tianjin and the technical support of Tsinghua University, realize the industrial transformation and application of chlorine dioxide slow release, super hydrophilic/hydrophobic modification, adsorption/catalytic integration, composite deodorization and other technologies, carry out the transformation of relevant achievements of self-assembly technology, scientific research industrialization, technical support and product services, and establish the operation mode of related products corporatization.

Technical docking and business negotiation
Contact: Liu Mingyi
Tel: 022-84999163
Mobile phone: 18322397456
E-mail: liumy@tsinghua-tj.org

Source | Table Interface Micro-nano Technology Institute
Editor | Wang Xiao
The final interpretation right of the above related technologies belongs to the Institute of Micro-nano Technology of Table Interface.