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

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是通过将废塑料升级到建筑产品中来提供碳密集型建筑材料的替代方案。由混凝土和高性能外加剂组成的建筑产品的选择越来越多，这表明对可以减少支撑结构所需数量的轻质浇注饰面材料的需求。鉴于废塑料的广泛可获得性，将这些废塑料转化为建筑产品资源的潜力很大，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更轻的成品材料，从而降低了后备结构的成本。该产品还提供了比现有复合材料产品更高的回收含量百分比和更低的环境影响。产品的外观可以根据不同的颜色、纹理和图案进行定制。设计前瞻和可持续发展驱动型的建筑师和建筑商可能会实现他们的可持续发展目标，并通过适应他们独特设计愿景的回收材料来投射这些价值。这个i-Corps项目将建立在对废旧热塑性聚合物的整体热铸研究的基础上，通过聚集体将普通塑料垃圾升级为用于建筑应用的岩石状材料。回收废旧聚合物通常涉及广泛的分类、加工和尺寸缩小，从而导致产品同质化，其中回收的内容物是不可察觉的。将聚合物与聚集体进行组合和热浇注的方法允许输入尺寸和聚合物类型更加不同的范围，以生产石状复合材料。与需要高压和/或高温并在模具中长时间冷却的类似尺寸的铸造建筑部件相比，该工艺相对较低的能耗。通过调整工艺参数，可以生成高度校准的石材类纹理和表面图案。需要对废聚合物混合物和废骨料进行进一步分析，以使产品规格符合非结构建筑材料的法规标准，如强度、抗紫外线和阻燃性。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 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.