Sustainable lignocellulose bio-based foam with good cushioning performance and thermal insulation for transportation packaging

Bio-based foams have been extensively employed as eco-friendly alternatives for cushioning materials in transportation. Herein, a series of novel bio-based foams with truss-like microstructures are successfully fabricated using lignocellulosic fibers via the Pluronic F127 soft template method. The lignocellulosic fiber-based foams (F-LFFx) exhibit low density (0.055 g/cm3), excellent compressive strength (0.25 MPa at 80% strain), and good recoverable compressibility (80%–90% under 50% strain). Products packaged with F-LFFx undergo a peak impact acceleration of merely 214.5 G after contacting the ground in drop impact testing, which is only 33% of the molded pulp. Additionally, F-LFFx have superior cushioning performance during simulated vibration testing. Furthermore, thermal images reveal the superior efficacy of F-LFFx in mitigating the impact of external temperatures on enclosed spaces compared with commercial expanded polyethylene (EPE) and corrugated cardboard, exhibiting a temperature difference of only 8.7°C in a hot environment at 80°C and −8.5°C in a cold environment at −78°C. Thus, F-LFFx are excellent candidates for vibration and impact protection as well as thermal insulation in transportation.