PFI:AIR - RA: Novel Halogen-free Replacement for Halobutyl Rubber

这个PFI：空气研究联盟项目专注于Allomatrix技术的翻译和转让，该技术源自美国国家科学基金会轮胎研究中心(CenTiRe)，一个I/UCRC。该技术具有以下市场价值：Allomatrix系列聚合物使用来自可再生资源的原材料，是卤化丁基橡胶的潜在替代品，卤化丁基橡胶用于制造汽车轮胎和药品塞子的气体阻隔内衬。它还有可能被用作橡胶生物材料，可以作为塑料加工和回收，具有比硅橡胶更好的综合性能。这些特点提供了以下优势：商用卤化丁基橡胶的性能不存在有害卤素，以及改进的成本效益更低的制造工艺，碳足迹更小。Allomatrix技术很重要，因为它使用来自可再生资源的原材料，预计将减少当前丁基和卤代丁基制造工艺的碳足迹(600,000吨/年)，可能导致改进的药物塞子，并提供改进的橡胶生物材料来拯救生命。如果成功，该项目有可能将高附加值制造业带回美国，在STEM领域创造就业机会。将创建的创新生态系统包括霍尼韦尔、Parker Hannifin、小型生物科技公司普利司通/凡士通(Innovia)和LG Hausys等合作伙伴。第三方投资者包括美国化学学会橡胶分部，创建了国际先进弹性体医疗中心，以及乳腺癌创新基金会，支持将乳房重建与癌症诊断和治疗相结合的研究。潜在的经济影响预计将是巨大的，在高附加值制造业、新的商业产品和受过良好培训的学生创造新的就业机会在未来2-10年中，学生(高中生、本科生和研究生)将通过将Allomatix技术转化为商业产品获得创业和技术翻译经验。学生将受到激励和挑战，以开发新的想法，并在行业合作伙伴面前捍卫他们的想法的可行性。该项目解决了以下技术差距(S)，因为它从研究发现转化为商业应用：以商业规模生产能够与当前卤化丁基橡胶竞争的无卤橡胶；减少制造过程的碳足迹；以更便宜和更简单的工艺生产热塑性生物相容性橡胶。PFI：AIR中提出的目标基于Allomatrix技术。这一新的材料系列是所有目标的基础，因此第一步是扩大聚合规模，并生产足够的材料用于产品开发和测试。在目标II中，我们的目标是开发一种用于轮胎应用的优化硫化体系，以及用于生物医学和其他应用的非硫磺硫化体系。在目标III中，将根据Allomatrix系列聚合物的良好性能，与不同的合作伙伴进行新的应用开发。在目标IV中，研究了聚合体系减少碳足迹的潜力。这一目标是基于对CenTiRe项目开发和优化阶段获得的聚合系统的洞察。最后，目的五是考察该材料用于生物医学应用的可行性，如细胞毒性研究、材料在生理条件下的稳定性等。

This PFI:AIR Research Alliance project focuses on the translation and transfer of the Allomatrix technology, derived from the NSF Center for Tire Research (CenTiRe), an I/UCRC. The technology has the following market-valued features: the Allomatrix family of polymers uses raw materials from renewable resources, and is a potential replacement of halobutyl rubber, which is used to make the gas-barrier inner liner of car tires and pharmaceutical stoppers. It also has the potential to be used as a rubbery biomaterial that can be processed as plastic and can be recycled, with better combination of properties than silicone rubber. These features provide the following advantages: the performance of commercial halobutyl rubber without the presence of harmful halogens, and an improved cost-effective manufacturing process with a smaller carbon footprint. The Allomatrix technology is important because it uses raw materials from renewable resources, is expected to reduce the carbon footprint of current butyl and halobutyl manufacturing processes (600,000 tons/year), may lead to improved pharmaceutical stoppers and provide improved rubbery biomaterials for saving lives. If successful, this project has the potential to bring back high value-added manufacturing to the USA, creating jobs in the STEM disciplines. The innovative ecosystem that will be created includes partners such as Honeywell, Parker Hannifin, Bridgestone/Firestone, a small biotech company (Innovia), and LG Hausys. Third party investors include the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society by creating the International Center of Advanced Elastomers for Healthcare, and the Breast Cancer Innovation Foundation supporting the research if integrating breast reconstruction with cancer diagnosis and treatment. The potential economic impact is expected to be significant, creating new jobs in high value added manufacturing, new commercial products and students well-trained for the created jobs in the next 2-10 years Students (high-school, undergraduate and graduate) will gain entrepreneurial and technology translation experience through the transfer of the Allomatix technology into commercial products. Students will be motivated and challenged to develop novel ideas, and to defend the feasibility of their ideas in front of industrial partners. This project addresses the following technology gap(s) as it translates from research discovery toward commercial application: to produce halogen-free rubber on a commercial scale that can compete with current halobutyl rubber; reduce the carbon footprint of the manufacturing process; produce thermoplastic biocompatible rubber with a much cheaper and simpler process. The proposed objectives in the PFI:AIR are based on the Allomatrix technology. This new family of materials is the basis for all objectives, thus the first step is to scale up the polymerization and to produce sufficient material for product development and testing. In objective II we aim to develop an optimized sulfur curing system for tire applications, and non-sulfur curing systems for biomedical and other applications. In objective III new application development will be implemented with various partners based on the favorable properties of Allomatrix family of polymers. In objective IV the potential of the reduction of the carbon footprint of the polymerization system is examined. This objective is based on the insight of the polymerization system that was acquired during the development and optimization stages of the CenTiRe project. Lastly, objective V focuses on the examination of the feasibility of the material to be used in biomedical applications, such as investigation of cytotoxicity, material stability under physiological conditions and other aspects.