I-Corps: A sustainable foam from shrimp shells

I-Corps：由虾壳制成的可持续泡沫

• 批准号: 1833198
• 负责人: Rhonda Shrader
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: University of California-Berkeley
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-04-01 至 2019-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1833198&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; sustainable; foam; shrimp; shells

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to replace plastic structural foam from non-sustainable sources with structural foam made with up-cycled shrimp shell waste. Polymer foams are an important component of many modern technologies from construction to automotive as well as packaging and sporting goods. Non-sustainable structural foam is a $350 billion/year market comprised mainly of polyurethane and polystyrene (styrofoam). Polyurethane and polystyrene require 500 years to degrade and create 30% of land-fill waste. It has been predicted that by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean. Natural materials are an attractive alternative for producing polymer foams, but often they lack the required mechanical properties or appropriate processing. Our technology transforms the biopolymer, chitin, contained in seafood waste into foam using a water-based environmentally friendly process. The resulting natural foam is less costly to produce and closely matches the properties of polystyrene and polyurethane foams.This I-Corps project will examine costumer discovery data from potential customers in various structural foam markets to find the best market fit and identify the unfulfilled needs for sustainable structural foam. During the regional I-Corps course, we completed interviews with surfboard shapers, surfboard manufacturers, professional surfers, and other sustainable industry experts related to surfboards who have validated the value of having sustainable and biodegradable foam for use as the core material in surfboard construction. We plan to further explore other potential industrial applications for our sustainable and biodegradable foam. We will interview project and business managers from innovation research departments within industries such as packaging, transportation, and construction to determine product-market fit for these applications. The goal being to find the best fit for the technology in the global polymer foams market.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.

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是用回收利用的虾壳废料制成的结构泡沫取代来自非可持续来源的塑料结构泡沫。 聚合物泡沫是从建筑到汽车以及包装和体育用品的许多现代技术的重要组成部分。 非可持续结构泡沫是一个每年3500亿美元的市场，主要由聚氨酯和聚苯乙烯（泡沫聚苯乙烯）组成。聚氨酯和聚苯乙烯需要500年才能降解，并产生30%的填埋垃圾。据预测，到2050年，海洋中的塑料将比鱼还多。天然材料是生产聚合物泡沫的有吸引力的替代品，但它们通常缺乏所需的机械性能或适当的加工。我们的技术使用水基环保工艺将海鲜废弃物中的生物聚合物甲壳素转化为泡沫。由此产生的天然泡沫生产成本较低，并且与聚苯乙烯和聚氨酯泡沫的性能非常匹配。这个I-Corps项目将研究来自各种结构泡沫市场的潜在客户的客户发现数据，以找到最适合的市场，并确定可持续结构泡沫尚未满足的需求。在区域I-Corps课程期间，我们完成了对冲浪板成形师，冲浪板制造商，专业冲浪者和其他与冲浪板相关的可持续行业专家的采访，他们验证了将可持续和可生物降解的泡沫用作冲浪板构造核心材料的价值。我们计划进一步探索可持续和可生物降解泡沫的其他潜在工业应用。我们将采访来自包装、运输和建筑等行业创新研究部门的项目和业务经理，以确定适合这些应用的产品市场。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。