I-Corps: Sustainable biocomposite materials for use in consumer and industrial applications

I-Corps项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是开发由藻类和农业废物制成的可持续生物材料。拟议的工艺旨在从其他工业废物流的低成本废物副产品中创造一类生物材料，其性能超过目前的生物基材料，并与商业刨花板和软木的性能相似。所提出的技术可用于生产硬质可生物降解复合材料。与传统的以石油为基础的聚合物材料不同，这种生物材料是基于藻类的，藻类在生长过程中会从大气中吸收碳。目前，利用废水藻类的积极研究促进了循环经济，使两种生物废物流，基础基质藻类和生物废物增强剂和填料相结合，从而产生易于回收和可生物降解的材料。目标是通过使用城市污水净化系统的副产品藻类来达到一个完全循环的过程。该技术平台的最终用途包括建筑和建筑材料、家具、绝缘材料和包装。这个I-Corps项目的基础是开发由藻类和农业废料制成的生物复合材料。所提出的技术是一种使用多孔氧化铝模具生产硬质可生物降解复合材料的成型工艺。与传统的以石油为基础的聚合材料不同，藻类原料在生长过程中会从大气中吸收碳，每生产1克藻类生物量就能捕获1.6至2克二氧化碳。在使用结束时，材料自然分解，无需专门的回收处理，并可能被粉碎，再水化和重塑再利用。此外，与传统聚合物材料相比，生物材料的其他环境效益包括制造过程中的能源消耗更低，在生产中能够使用完整的藻类细胞，以及与多种类型的生物废物填料和增强剂的兼容性。这些生物基和可生物降解材料支持可持续发展和碳减排目标。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 I-Corps project is the development of sustainable biomaterials made from algae and agricultural waste. The proposed process is designed to create a class of biomaterials from low-cost waste byproducts of other industrial waste streams with properties that exceed current bio-based materials, and are similar to those of commercial particleboard and softwoods. The proposed technology may be used to produce stiff biodegradable composite materials. Unlike traditional petroleum-based polymeric materials, the proposed biomaterials are based on algae, which sequester carbon from the atmosphere during growth. Current active research using wastewater algae facilitates a circular economy by enabling the combination of two biowaste streams, base substrate algae and bio-waste reinforcements and fillers, resulting in materials that are both easily recycled and biodegradable. The goal is to reach a completely circular process by using algae that are a byproduct of municipal wastewater purification systems. End use applications for this technology platform include building and construction materials, furniture, insulation, and packaging.This I-Corps project is based on the development of biocomposites made from algae and agricultural waste. The proposed technology is a molding process that uses porous aluminum oxide molds to produce stiff biodegradable composite materials. Unlike traditional petroleum-based polymeric materials, the algae raw material sequesters carbon from the atmosphere during growth, with 1.6 to 2 grams of CO2 captured for every gram of algal biomass produced. At end-of-use, the material naturally decomposes without specialized recycling treatments, and may be crushed, rehydrated, and remolded for reuse. In addition, other environmental benefits of the biomaterial over traditional polymeric materials include lower energy use in fabrication, ability to use the full algae cell in production, and compatibility with multiple types of biowaste fillers and reinforcements. These biobased and biodegradable materials support sustainability and carbon reduction goals.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.