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

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是使可持续来源的塑料生产能够以更低的成本提供比传统石油来源塑料更高的性能。该项目的技术是从二氧化碳和不可食用的生物质中生产材料。它通过消除传统方法所需步骤的一半以上，大大降低了制造成本。SBIR一期项目拟开发以空气为氧化剂连续氧化糠醛制糠酸的工艺化学条件。糠醛是一种工业上从各种不可食用（木质纤维素）生物质来源生产的原料化学品。糠醛氧化是生产FDCA的关键步骤。拟议的项目将通过证明氧化可以在高速率的连续流动下进行，并使用适合大批量生产的操作条件（流量，浓度，压力等）进行转化，从而推进翻译。本项目将在连续的液体和空气流动下评估一系列反应参数和催化剂集合，以找到最佳条件。还将对催化剂在高性能条件下的稳定性进行初步评估。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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.