SBIR Phase I: Scalable Production of Platform Chemicals from Inedible Biomass and CO2

该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是能够生产可持续来源的塑料，以比传统石油来源的塑料更低的成本提供上级性能。该项目中的技术利用二氧化碳和不可食用的生物质生产材料。它通过消除传统方法所需的一半以上的步骤，大大降低了制造成本。该SBIR第一阶段项目建议开发使用空气作为氧化剂将糠醛连续氧化为糠酸的工艺化学条件。糠醛是工业上从多种不可食用（木质纤维素）生物质来源生产的原料化学品。糠醛氧化是FDCA生产过程中的关键步骤。拟议项目将通过证明氧化可以在高速率和使用操作条件（流速、浓度、压力等）的转化率下在连续流动下发生来推进翻译。适合大批量生产。该项目将在连续液体和空气流动下评估一套反应参数和一系列催化剂，以找到最佳条件。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。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is enable the production of sustainably-sourced plastics offering superior performance at lower cost than conventional petroleum-sourced plastics. The technology in this project produces materials from CO2 and inedible biomass. It dramatically lowers the manufacturing cost by eliminating more than half the steps required by traditional methods. This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop process chemistry conditions for the continuous oxidation of furfural to furoic acid using air as the oxidant. Furfural is a feedstock chemical produced industrially from diverse inedible (lignocellulosic) biomass sources. Furfural oxidation is a key step in the process for producing FDCA. The proposed project will advance the translation by demonstrating that oxidation can take place under continuous flow at high rates and conversions using operating conditions (flow rate, concentration, pressure, etc.) amenable to high-volume production. This project will evaluate a suite of reaction parameters and a collection of catalysts under continuous liquid and air flow to find optimal conditions. A preliminary assessment of catalyst stability under high-performance conditions will also be performed.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.