Graphene-enhanced bioplastics for sustainable packaging applications

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This multidisciplinary project with industrial relevance and support aims to develop novel technologies, for the development of biodegradable plastics - Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) with enhanced properties through the use of graphene in various forms. We exploit fermentation at different scales and modes (batch/fed-batch) for PHA bioproduction from sustainable biomass sources as well as the subsequent efficient bioproduction of the actual biopolymers along with their functionalisation through the use of graphene and graphene-based materials (e.g. graphene oxide, and graphene nanotubes). The resulting enhanced mechanical properties of the produced biomaterials will be assessed, as well as the economic potential of the proposed combination of methodologies. The project focuses on sustainable carbon resources, such as e.g. biorefinery crude glycerol, flue gases etc. and novel electrochemical synthesis routes for the graphene oxides. An exciting combination of both advanced experimental and computational studies is taking place: Our previous work on batch fermentation-based production of PHB, have provided effective starting points for this project. Computational work involve the construction of reactor simulators in conjunction with advanced optimisation techniques in order to obtain optimal bioreactor configurations addressing important issues such as biomass/product separation, as well as efficient extraction techniques.