SBIR Phase I: Biodegradable Plastic Derived from Wheat Gluten

小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目旨在证明一种创新加工方法的概念验证，该方法用于生产仅来自植物蛋白等生物基资源的商业级塑料（聚合物）材料。 所提出的调节和加工小麦面筋的方法将产生完全生物相容性和生物可降解的硬塑料材料。 预计拟议的生产方法将产生具有成本竞争力的生物基聚合物产品，其机械和性能属性与合成塑料产品相当或更好。 完全由植物蛋白质制成的塑料材料是天然的，因此将减少合成塑料制造中使用的有毒化学品和不可降解的塑料废物积累对环境造成的污染。拟议的研究将通过德雷克塞尔大学的合作本科教育计划有一个强大的教育组成部分。

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project proposes to demonstrate proof-of-concept of an innovative processing method for yielding commercial-grade plastic (polymer) materials derived solely from biobased resources such as plant proteins. The proposed method for conditioning and processing wheat gluten will lead to a hard plastic material that is fully biocompatible and biodegradable. The proposed production method is expected to result in cost-competitive biobased polymer products with mechanical and performance attributes comparable to, or better than, those of their synthetic plastic counterparts. Plastic materials that are made entirely from plant proteins are natural, and will, therefore, reduce pollution of the environment caused by toxic chemicals used in synthetic plastic manufacture and by non-degradable plastic waste accumulation. The proposed study will have a strong educational component through Drexel's Co-op Undergraduate Education Program.