SBIR Phase I: Soft Foam Polyurethanes from Algae Oil

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是创造由藻类油制成的可持续和可生物降解的聚氨酯产品。基于藻类的聚合物前驱体将被开发并用于生产具有所需物理特性的成品聚氨酯。将针对聚氨酯鞋底的开发，包括聚氨酯人字拖，因为这些产品的消费者越来越要求加入可持续材料，并且消费者愿意支付与加入可再生材料相关的少量额外成本。开发藻类聚合物和由其制成的高价值产品将使我们能够开发基于这些生物材料的新型单体工具箱，并创造出物理性能等于或高于石油聚合物的新聚合物。这些以藻类为基础的聚合物还提供了更清洁、更智能的产品--在分子水平上防止污染。开发环境可持续和可生物降解的产品将减少废物，防止昂贵的寿命终结补救，导致更安全的产品，并节省能源和水资源。这些基于藻类的聚合物产品的开发将使可再生材料能够取代基于石油的材料，同时保持消费者已经开始欣赏的聚氨酯产品的性能特征。这个SBIR第一阶段项目建议从基于生物的藻类原料开发可持续的单体，这些单体将用于生产具有适当鞋底性能的成品聚氨酯软泡。它包括从多种藻油来源制备基于藻类的多元醇，从工作台到生产规模，然后将这些单体配制成满足挑剔的环保消费者需求的材料。开发的藻类多元醇将不会是相应石油来源材料的配方直接替代产品，将需要仔细的配方才能生成具有所需最终产品性能且与当前制造技术兼容的聚氨酯。配方和工艺兼容性是关键步骤，因为工业用户不希望大幅修改制造工艺来采用新的起始材料。最后，将通过比较最终用户在运动服和汽车中通常使用的生物和石油基聚氨酯之间的性能指标，对所得到的聚氨酯进行物理评估。使用来自多种藻类菌株的多元醇，将开发一种用于软质泡沫的聚氨酯配方，以展示我们从可持续原料和绿色化学到商业应用的产品开发和制造一体化的能力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is to create sustainable and biodegradable polyurethane products made from algae oils. Algae-based polymer precursors will be developed and used to produce finished polyurethane product with the desired physical characteristics. Development of polyurethane shoe soles will be targeted, including polyurethane flip-flops, as these are products where consumers are increasingly demanding the incorporation of sustainable materials and where the consumer is willing to pay the small extra cost associated with incorporating renewable materials. Developing algae polymers and high value products made from these will allow us to develop a novel monomer toolbox based on these bio-materials and to create new polymers with physical properties equal or superior to petroleum based polymers. These algae based polymers also provide cleaner, smarter products- pollution prevention at the molecular level. The development of environmentally sustainable and biodegradable products will reduce waste, prevent costly end-of-life remediation, lead to safer products and save energy and water resources. The development of these algae based polymer products will enable renewable materials to supplant petroleum-based materials while maintaining the performance characteristics of polyurethane products that consumers have come to appreciate.This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop sustainable monomers from bio-based algae feedstocks that will be used to create finished polyurethane soft foams that have the appropriate properties for shoe soles. It incorporates the preparation of algae-based polyols from multiple algae oil sources, going from bench to production scale, followed by formulation of these monomers into materials that meet the demands of a discerning eco-conscious consumer. The developed algae polyols will not be formulaic direct drop-in replacements for the corresponding petroleum sourced materials' careful formulation will be required to generate polyurethanes with the desired final product properties, and that are also compatible with current manufacturing techniques. Formulation and process compatibility are key steps, as industrial users are not looking to significantly modify manufacturing processes to incorporate new starting materials. Lastly, physical evaluation of the resulting polyurethanes will be done by comparing the performance metrics between bio and petroleum-based polyurethanes typically used by end users in sportswear and automotives. Using polyols derived from multiple algal strains, a polyurethane formulation for soft foams will be developed to demonstrate our ability to integrate product development and manufacturing, from sustainable feedstock and green chemistry through commercial application.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.