I-Corps: A sustainable foam from shrimp shells

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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.