SBIR Phase I: Gel-Assisted Casting of a Self-Assembling Biocomposite Material

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目将开发一种创新的、环境友好的工艺，用于从不同的生物材料成分中形成具有上级质量和性能的净形产品。 塑料和泡沫塑料依赖于固有的不可持续的原材料，需要高能量来生产，并且在其使用寿命结束时不易生物降解。 该项目将专注于进一步开发一种替代材料系统：一种自组装生物复合材料，它实际上是在黑暗中生长的，使用真菌组织来结合农业废物的异质颗粒。 这种可生物降解的材料具有与合成泡沫相媲美的机械性能，并有可能改变价值数十亿美元的保护性包装和结构芯材行业。然而，在生长过程中用于成型所得产品的薄壁塑料模具的使用寿命有限，必须经常更换。 通过开发凝胶化生长基质和工艺，消除或减少对这些形式的依赖，将提高可持续性和产量，并降低成本，以进一步激励广泛采用。 拟议的研究将回答一些问题，这些问题将决定这种凝胶辅助铸造工艺在技术上和商业上是否可行，从而为第二阶段项目奠定基础。该项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力很难被夸大。 生产用于保护性包装和建筑结构的低成本、高强度重量比材料的传统方法使用高达10%的世界石油作为原料，并且在生产过程中消耗相当大的能量。真菌材料技术消除了对化石燃料原料的需求，目前仅需八分之一的能源即可生产与合成泡沫相同的体积。此外，该产品无毒，阻燃，易于生物降解。商业潜力很高，因为目前制造的由这种材料制成的产品已经成功地在市场上与由发泡聚苯乙烯和发泡聚丙烯制成的产品竞争。对整个社会的好处包括更安全的材料，向区域制造业的过渡，这将促进当地经济，使用国内副产品作为主要原材料，降低能源消耗，以及减少浪费和污染的生产方法。该项目的成功完成将有助于美国制造商成为生产和供应可持续材料的世界领导者，并有可能为众多全球市场提供服务。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop an innovative, environmentally benign process for forming net shape products of superior quality and performance from dissimilar biomaterial components. Plastics and foams are dependent upon inherently unsustainable raw materials, require a high embodied energy to produce, and do not readily biodegrade at the end of their useful lives. This project will focus on the further development of an alternative material system: a self-assembling biocomposite which is literally grown in the dark using fungal tissue to bind heterogeneous particles of agricultural waste. The biodegradable material exhibits mechanical properties that rival synthetic foams and offers the potential to transform the multi-billion dollar protective packaging and structural cores industries. However, the thin-walled plastic forms used to shape resulting products during growth have a limited service life and must be replaced frequently. Removing or reducing dependence on these forms, through development of a gelatinizing growth substrate and process, will increase sustainability and yield, and reduce costs to further incentivize widespread adoption. The proposed research will answer questions that will determine whether this gel-assisted casting process is technically and commercially feasible, and therefore laying the groundwork for a Phase II project.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is difficult to overstate. Conventional methods of producing low-cost, high strength-to-weight ratio materials for protective packaging and building construction use up to 10% of the world's petroleum as feedstock and consume considerable energy in the production process. Mycological material technology eliminates the need for fossil fuel feedstock and currently requires only one-eighth of the energy to produce an equivalent volume as compared to synthetic foam. In addition, the products are non-toxic, fire-retardant, and readily biodegradable. The commercial potential is high, as products made of this material, as currently manufactured, already successfully compete in the marketplace with products made of expanded polystyrene and expanded polypropylene. The benefits to society at large include safer materials, the transition to regional manufacturing which will bolster local economies, the use of domestic byproducts as the primary raw material, lower energy consumption, and a production method which creates less waste and pollution. The successful completion of this project will help United States manufacturers to emerge as world leaders in the production and supply of sustainable materials, with the potential to serve numerous global markets.