NSF Convergence Accelerator Track I: Enhanced Biobased Textiles and Composites Via Microbially Produced Silk Proteins

时尚业是气候变化的最大贡献者之一，估计温室气体排放量占全球总排放量的5-10%。这一数字超过了航空和航运等其他行业，预计到2030年将再增长30%。来自原油和甲烷的材料约占所有纺织品的三分之二。这些合成纺织品推动了与“快时尚”相关的廉价、短命服装的增长，从而推动了更高的消费和排放。这种快速时尚的商业模式加速了线性的“取废”塑料经济，其中主要使用原始原料，服装在被填埋或焚烧之前只穿了几次。由于大多数合成纺织品是不可生物降解的，因此环境中塑料污染的增加是当今时尚业的必然后果。该项目的目标是探索无化石生物降解纺织品和纤维的制造，这些纺织品和纤维表现出适合取代时尚行业传统材料的性能属性。这样的常规材料包括合成纤维，例如聚酯、聚氨酯和尼龙，以及不可持续的天然材料，例如皮革。具体而言，该项目将开发用于制造可再生无化石纱线、染料和仿皮革织物的制造工艺，这些纱线、染料和仿皮革织物将联合收割机真菌/植物衍生生物质与人造丝蛋白相结合，以增强消费纺织品应用的性能。该项目还将探索使用重组蛋白质和染料，这些蛋白质和染料是通过微生物对废弃的柠檬酸塑料进行升级循环而产生的，从而增加材料创新的可持续性影响。非学术合作者将包括行业和非营利参与者，他们将提供市场和供应链洞察力以及材料设计和加工专业知识。技术经济分析将有助于确定技术，市场和业务发展的战略，以促进服务不足的客户群，包括黑人，西班牙裔和低收入社区的采用。该项目还将为K-12学生开发关于可持续时尚的推广计划。迄今为止，大多数生物材料开发工作主要集中在单一的生物聚合物类。然而，大自然广泛地利用不同生物分子类别的协同作用来产生表现出几乎矛盾的性质的材料（例如，坚硬而坚韧，坚固而可延伸）。该项目将合成100%无化石的生物材料，其特征在于不同类别的生物大分子。研究工作将侧重于开发战略，以增强纤维素（韧皮纤维）或几丁质（菌丝体）基础材料的特性，这些材料坚固而坚硬，但缺乏足够的韧性和耐用性，重组工程丝素蛋白将有助于材料的坚固性。该项目还将生产色蛋白染料，作为传统纺织染料的生物基替代品。通过开发新的生物复合材料和制造工艺，该项目将有助于填补具有新兴特性的多组分生物材料的合理设计和制造方面的知识空白。该项目还将有助于技术经济，生命周期和破坏性潜力分析，这些分析将指导未来的生物材料开发，特别关注鼓励在服务不足的客户群中采用产品。第一阶段的交付成果将包括原型丝绸增强菌丝体皮革，大麻-丝绸纱线，废物衍生的色素蛋白染料，相关的制造工艺，以及成本和破坏性技术变革模型。为了支持商业相关的创新，该项目将涉及各种非营利和行业合作伙伴的跨部门参与。此外，与RPI工程大使计划合作，将为纽约首都地区的K-12学生开发外展经验，以可持续的方式教授基本概念。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

The fashion industry is one of the biggest contributors to climate change, with estimated greenhouse gas emissions between 5-10% of all global emissions. This number exceeds that of other sectors of concern, such as aviation and shipping, and is expected to grow another 30% by 2030. Materials derived from crude oil and methane account for around two-thirds of all textiles. These synthetic textiles have driven the growth of cheap, short-lived clothing associated with the “fast fashion”, fueling even higher consumption and emissions. This fast fashion business model accelerates a linear take-make-waste plastics economy, where virgin feedstock is predominantly used, and clothing are only worn a handful of times before being landfilled or incinerated. Because most synthetic textiles are not biodegradable, increase of plastic pollution in the environment is an inevitable consequence of the fashion industry today. The goal of this project is to explore the fabrication of fossil-free biodegradable textiles and fibers that exhibit performance attributes suitable for replacing conventional materials in the fashion industry. Such conventional materials include synthetic fibers, such as polyesters, polyurethanes, and nylons, as well as non-sustainable natural materials, such as leather. Specifically, this project will develop manufacturing processes for fabricating renewable fossil-free yarns, dyes, and leather-like fabrics that combine fungi/plant-derived biomass with artificial silk protein for enhanced performance in consumer textile applications. This project will also explore the use of recombinant proteins and dyes that are produced by microbial upcycling of waste recalcitrant plastic, thus increasing the sustainability impact of the materials innovations. Non-academic collaborators will include industry and non-profit participants who will provide market and supply chain insight as well as materials design and processing expertise. Technoeconomic analysis will help identify strategies for technology, market, business development that promote adoption by underserved customer bases, including Black, Hispanic, and low-income communities. This project will also develop outreach programs for K-12 students regarding sustainable fashion.Most biomaterials development efforts to date primarily focus on a single biopolymer class. Nature, however, extensively leverages the synergy of different biomolecular classes to yield materials that exhibit almost paradoxical properties (e.g. stiff yet tough, strong yet extensible). This project will synthesize 100% fossil-free biomaterials that feature diverse classes of biomacromolecules. Research efforts will focus on developing strategies for enhancing the properties of a cellulosic (bast fiber) or chitinaceous (mycelium) base material, which are strong and stiff but lack sufficient toughness and durability, with recombinantly engineered silk fibroin, which will contribute to material robustness. This project will also manufacture chromoprotein dyes as a biobased alternative to conventional textile dyes. By developing new biocomposite materials and manufacturing processes, this project will help fill a knowledge gap in the rational design and fabrication of multi-component biomaterials with emergent properties. This project will also contribute technoeconomic, lifecycle, and disruptive potential analyses that will guide future biomaterials development, with particular focus on encouraging product adoption in underserved customer bases. Phase 1 deliverables will include prototyped Silk-Enhanced Mycelium Leather, Hemp-Silk yarn, waste-derived chromoprotein dyes, associated manufacturing processes, and cost and disruptive technological change models. To support commercially relevant innovation, this project will involve cross-sector participation by various non-profit and industry partners. Additionally, in collaboration with the RPI Engineering Ambassadors program, outreach experiences for K-12 students in the New York Capital Region will be developed to teach basic concepts in sustainable fashion.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.