I-Corps: Process for upcycling plastic waste into a building material

I-Corps：将塑料废物升级改造为建筑材料的过程

• 批准号: 2131161
• 负责人: Meredith Miller
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-06-01 至 2022-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2131161&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Process; upcycling; plastic; waste

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to provide an alternative to carbon-intensive construction materials by upcycling waste plastics into building products. The growing options of building products composed of concrete and high-performing additives points to a demand for lightweight, cast finish materials that can reduce the amount of support structure needed. Given the widespread availability of waste plastics, there is great potential for translating this waste into a resource for architectural product that address this demand while meeting the customer's budget and design goals. This composite material offers designers and builders seeking sustainable materials lighter weight, finished materials that reduce cost of back-up structure. The product also offers a higher percentage of recycled content than available composite products and a lower environmental impact. The products' appearance are customizable in terms of varying color, texture, and patterning. Design-forward and sustainability-driven architects and builders may reach their sustainability goals and project those values through recycled materials adapted to their distinct design vision.This I-Corps project will build upon a lineage of investigations into monolithic thermocasting of waste thermoplastic polymers with aggregates to upcycle common plastic waste into a rock-like material for architectural applications. Recycling waste polymers typically involves extensive sorting, processing, and size-reduction, resulting in homogenized products in which the recycled content is imperceptible. The method of combining and thermocasting polymers with aggregates allows for a more heterogeneous range of input sizes and polymer types to produce a stone-like composite material. The process is relatively low-energy compared to that of similarly scaled cast building components that require high pressures and/or high temperatures and long periods of cooling in the molds. A highly calibrated range of stone-like textures and surface patterns can be generated by modulating process parameters. Further analysis of waste polymer blends and waste aggregates is needed to align product specifications with regulatory criteria for non-structural building materials such as strength, UV resistance, and flame resistance.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.

该 I-Corps 项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是通过将废塑料升级改造为建筑产品，提供碳密集型建筑材料的替代品。由混凝土和高性能添加剂组成的建筑产品的选择不断增加，表明了对轻质铸造饰面材料的需求，这些材料可以减少所需支撑结构的数量。鉴于废塑料的广泛使用，将这种废物转化为建筑产品的资源具有巨大的潜力，可以满足这一需求，同时满足客户的预算和设计目标。这种复合材料为寻求可持续材料的设计师和建筑商提供了重量更轻的成品材料，从而降低了支撑结构的成本。 该产品还比现有复合材料产品提供更高比例的回收成分，并且对环境的影响更低。产品的外观可根据不同的颜色、纹理和图案进行定制。以设计为导向、以可持续发展为导向的建筑师和建筑商可以实现他们的可持续发展目标，并通过适合其独特设计愿景的回收材料来体现这些价值。I-Corps 项目将建立在对废弃热塑性聚合物与骨料的整体热铸造的一系列研究基础上，将普通塑料废物升级为用于建筑应用的岩石状材料。回收废聚合物通常涉及广泛的分类、加工和尺寸减小，从而产生均质产品，其中回收的成分是难以察觉的。将聚合物与骨料组合并热铸的方法允许输入尺寸和聚合物类型的范围更加多样化，以生产类似石头的复合材料。与需要高压和/或高温以及在模具中长时间冷却的类似规模的铸造建筑部件相比，该过程的能量相对较低。通过调节工艺参数可以生成一系列高度校准的类似石头的纹理和表面图案。需要对废弃聚合物共混物和废弃骨料进行进一步分析，以使产品规格与非结构建筑材料的监管标准（例如强度、抗紫外线性和阻燃性）保持一致。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。