SBIR Phase I: Method of Disinfecting Precursor Materials using Plant Essential Oils for a new Material Technology

SBIR第一阶段：使用植物精油对前体材料进行消毒的新材料技术方法

• 批准号: 0944529
• 负责人: Gavin McIntyre
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Ecovative Design LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-01-01 至 2010-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0944529&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Method; Disinfecting; Precursor

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project seeks to further reduce the economic and environmental costs associated with sterilization of precursor materials for the Mycobond platform. Mycobond is a revolutionary material that is grown from agricultural byproducts and a vegetative growth of a filamentous fungus (basidiomycete mycelium). To ensure adequate growth all raw materials are either sterilized or pasteurized, which represents up to 24 hours of process time and 50% of the material cost. This research intends to use an emulsion comprised of phenolic compounds from plant essential oils (PEOs) to inactivate competitive organisms on all feedstocks while reducing manufacturing costs. Preliminary trails have yielded favorable results, indicating a potential reduction of the disinfection costs by 88%. Furthermore, this procedure can significantly reduce both the capital expense associated with production and the environmental footprint by removing high entropy processes. Achieving successful disinfection with PEOs, and later inoculation with the desired mycelium, will allow the Mycobond? technology to retail at prices below those of expanded polystyrene (EPS), granting a competitive advantage that would aid in gaining rapid market adoption. The technology benchmarks well against EPS, and has interested early adopters in the protective packaging and rigid board insulation industries. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is the development of sustainable, high-performance composite materials for the packaging and insulation industries. 10% of the petroleum imported into the United States is allocated to the production of inherently unsustainable materials. The Mycobond platform is a direct replacement for many these materials, applicable for products from protective packaging to structural cores. The use of a PEO emulsion seeks to further reduce the energy consumption of material production by closely emulating nature. The biological composites and related processes can reduce energy consumption fivefold and greenhouse gas emissions by tenfold when compared to an identical volume of EPS. Furthermore, since the raw materials used are byproducts from American industries, a new revenue stream will result, bolstering local economies. The plants and related compounds utilized in the procedure are rapidly renewable and the proposed disinfection platform is an open system which reduces dependence on a solitary feedstock. The use of PEO emulsions to disinfect materials has value beyond composites production, and will find applications in agriculture industry and commercial cultivation of mushrooms. The effective replacement of high-embodied energy processes will support local manufacturing by increasing the feasibility of low-cost, regional production.

该小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目旨在进一步降低与Mycobond平台前体材料灭菌相关的经济和环境成本。 Mycobond是一种革命性的材料，它是由农业副产品和丝状真菌（担子菌菌丝体）的营养生长而成。 为了确保足够的生长，所有原材料都经过灭菌或巴氏灭菌，这意味着长达24小时的处理时间和50%的材料成本。本研究旨在使用一种由植物精油（PEO）中的酚类化合物组成的乳液，以在所有原料中抑制竞争性生物，同时降低制造成本。初步试验取得了良好的结果，表明消毒成本可能降低88%。 此外，该过程可以通过去除高熵过程来显著降低与生产相关的资本费用和环境足迹。 用PEO成功消毒，然后接种所需的菌丝体，将允许Mycobond？该技术以低于发泡聚苯乙烯（EPS）的价格进行零售，从而获得竞争优势，有助于迅速获得市场采用。 该技术的基准以及对EPS，并有兴趣的早期采用者在保护包装和刚性板绝缘行业。该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是为包装和绝缘行业开发可持续的高性能复合材料。 美国进口的石油中有10%用于生产本质上不可持续的材料。Mycobond平台是许多此类材料的直接替代品，适用于从保护性包装到结构芯材的产品。PEO乳液的使用旨在通过密切模仿自然来进一步降低材料生产的能耗。与相同体积的EPS相比，生物复合材料和相关工艺可以将能源消耗减少五倍，温室气体排放减少十倍。 此外，由于所用的原材料是美国工业的副产品，因此将产生新的收入来源，促进当地经济。在该过程中使用的植物和相关化合物是快速可再生的，并且所提出的消毒平台是一个开放系统，其减少了对单独原料的依赖。使用PEO乳液对材料进行消毒具有超出复合材料生产的价值，并且将在农业工业和蘑菇的商业栽培中找到应用。 有效取代高耗能工艺将通过提高低成本区域生产的可行性来支持当地制造业。