SBIR Phase II: Sustainable Packaging Foam

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是，通过用完全可生物降解和自然来源的替代品取代包装中的塑料，减少导致垃圾填埋废物和海洋塑料污染的一次性塑料。消费者对更可持续的解决方案的需求日益增长，以及电子商务航运的快速增长，为企业创造了用可持续包装取代传统材料的迫切行业需求。该项目开发了一种生物良性泡沫塑料，该泡沫塑料可以通过与即插即用的兼容制造工艺大规模生产，以创造出与传统发泡聚苯乙烯产品成本相近的优质可生物降解包装产品。这个小企业创新研究第二阶段项目将扩大甲壳素泡沫的生产工艺，用作保护包装。甲壳素是从虾壳下脚料中提取的一种多糖。该项目完全开发了一种可扩展的挤出工艺，可产生高质量的泡沫，非常适合大规模生产，服务于包装行业所需的批量。有了这个项目，开发的挤压工艺可以与供应链合作伙伴一起实施，以展示完全可扩展的可持续包装材料，可以满足行业日益增长的需求。目标是与合作伙伴一起实现大批量生产，并创造出与发泡聚苯乙烯具有相同机械性能和密度的保护性包装。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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 II project is the reduction in single use plastics that contribute to landfill waste and ocean plastic pollution by replacing these plastics in packaging with a fully biodegradable and naturally sourced alternative. Increasing consumer demand for more sustainable solutions as well as the rapid growth of ecommerce shipping has created an urgent industry need for companies to replace traditional materials with sustainable packaging. This project develops a bio-benign foam that can be produced at scale with drop-in compatible manufacturing processes to create superior biodegradable packaging products at similar cost to traditional expanded polystyrene products.This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project will scale the production processes of a chitin-based foam to be used as protective packaging. Chitin is a polysaccharide derived from shrimp shell waste. The project fully develop a scalable extrusion process that creates high quality foam and is well-suited to scale for mass production at volumes required to service the packaging industry. With this project, the extrusion process developed can be implemented with supply chain partners to show a fully scalable sustainable packaging material that can meet the increasing demands of the industry. The goals are to achieve high volume production with partners and create protective packaging with the same mechanical performance and density as expanded polystyrene.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.