Bright IDEAS Award: High strength starch based plastics

该公司的研究思路是开发一系列生物塑料，这些生物塑料是从食品工业产生的一种废物--灰色淀粉中提取出来的。之前EPSRC资助的研究已经确定了一系列天然、可生物降解和廉价的添加剂，当添加到淀粉中时，可以产生新颖的发泡。由于使用了盐作为粘结剂，这些材料具有真正独特的性能。初步研究表明，替代品、添加剂和加工技术可以产生迄今为止用淀粉不可能实现的硬透明塑料。所谓的盐变性淀粉可以为生物塑料提供第一个机会，在成本和机械性能方面与石油基塑料竞争，同时在可持续性和环境影响标准方面获胜。该项目的目的是进行进一步的研究，以开发和制定制造硬质、透明的淀粉基塑料所需的条件。该项目还将尝试制造第一种单相淀粉与醋酸纤维素的复合材料，使材料具有水稳定性。我们希望评估这些生物塑料的机械和物理性能，并生产用于各种应用评估的测试样品。与传统的油基塑料不同，淀粉基材料是完全可堆肥的。作为研究项目的一部分，我们希望评估分解这些新材料的时间框架和条件。

The research idea is to develop a range of bioplastics derived from 'grey' starch, a waste product generated by the food industry. Previous EPSRC funded research has identified a range of natural, biodegradeble and inexpensive additives which can produce novel blown foams when added to starch. The materials have truly unique properties which are enabled due to the use of salts as the binding agents. Preliminary studies have shown that alternatives additives and processing techniques can generate hard transparent plastics which have hitherto been impossible to achieve with starch. The so-called 'salt modified starch' could offer the first opportunity for bioplastics to potentially compete with oil-based plastics both on cost and mechanical properties while at the same time winning out on sustainability and environmental impact criteria.The aim of this project is to undertake further research to develop and formulate the conditions required to make rigid, transparent starch-based plastics. The project will also attempt to make the first monophase starch composites with cellulose acetate rendering the materials water stable. We wish to evaluate the mechanical and physical properties of these bioplastics and to produce test samples for evaluation in a variety of applications. Unlike conventional oil-based plastics the starch based materials are fully compostable. As part of the research project we wish to evaluate the time frame and conditions of decomposition these new materials.