Development of biobased engineering materials

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In the past decade, the interest and market for bioplastics have grown dramatically. Among these bioplastics, polylactide (or PLA) has become the most important in terms of annual market (ca. $2 billion dollar) and boasts an annual growth rate close to 20%. The vast majority of applications for PLA are currently in short lifetime applications. There is a whole window of opportunity however in longer term engineering applications that are nearly untouched for the moment because of PLA's low temperature resistance and relative brittleness. ***The proposed research aims at the development of a new generation of biobased plastics for engineering applications. The proposal builds on the current understanding of the crystallization and structure-property relationships of biopolyesters. The research will enable the development of biobased or partially biobased blends with improved toughness, impact resistance and thermal resistance and expand the knowledge base on emerging bioplastics. In particular, the blending and crystallization of polyester/acrylics miscible blends will be explored as a means to improve thermal resistance. The phase separation will be monitored as a function of the co-monomer composition in the acrylic based polymers and as a function of the optical purity of the biopolyester. The phase separation will be correlated with the thermal transitions and overall properties of the developed materials. On the toughening aspect, reactive blending of functionalized elastomers with biopolyesters will be explored in order to develop cost-competitive high impact blends. The research will investigate the available routes such as blending epoxydized rubbers that can react with acid end-groups of the polyester and blending of core-shell elastomers that contain an acrylic shell that is miscible with polyesters. The generic process-structure-property relationships of these materials will be disclosed.*** The formed highly qualified personnel will acquire specialized skills in polymer processing, advanced material characterization by electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy as well as a deep understanding on the manufacturing of polymer products. There is currently a large interest for biobased polymers and the expertise developed during their graduate studies will make the HQPs highly attractive in their future professional career.**