Development of Degradable Alternatives for Commercial Water-soluble Polymers

人们越来越关注聚合物/塑料污染对人类健康、动物和环境的不利影响。随着全球聚合物制造和消费的持续增长，预计到2050年，在垃圾填埋场和环境中积累的聚合物废物将达到12,000吨。2020年加拿大政府的一份报告指出，废物管理不当导致地表水、土壤、地下水、海岸线、饮用水、食物和野生动物受到聚合物污染。虽然它们的使用寿命通常从几个月到几年不等，但大多数聚合物需要数十年到数百年才能降解，这取决于条件和特定材料。生物可降解聚合物可以在环境中分解成无害的小分子，是一种很有前途的减少聚合物污染的方法。近年来，生物可降解聚合物的开发取得了进展，以取代传统的聚合物，用于食品包装等应用。然而，对水溶性聚合物的可降解替代品的关注少得多，水溶性聚合物也很难分离和回收。与巴斯夫的合作项目将重点研究和开发商业水溶性聚合物的可降解替代品。将制备一系列聚合物并对其进行表征。此外，它们的生物降解性作为其结构的函数将被研究。它们取代目前商用聚合物的潜力将在应用测试中进行评估。预计这些可替代的可降解聚合物可以在水处理、洗涤剂、化妆品和个人护理产品、石油加工、采矿、纸浆和造纸等应用中取代传统的不可降解聚合物，这些都是加拿大的关键行业。

Concerns are growing regarding the adverse effects of polymer/plastic pollution on human health, animals, and the environment. With global manufacturing and consumption of polymers continuing to grow, it is predicted that by 2050 there will be 12,000 tons of polymer waste accumulated in landfills and in the environment. A 2020 Canadian government report indicated that improper management of waste led to polymer pollution in surface waters, soil, groundwater, shorelines, drinking water, food and wildlife. While their useful lifetime often ranges from a few months to a few years, most polymers require tens to hundreds of years to degrade, depending on the conditions and specific materials. Biodegradable polymers, which can be broken down into harmless small molecules in the environment are a promising approach to reduce polymer pollution. In recent years, progress has been made in the development of biodegradable polymers to replace conventional polymers for applications such as food packaging. However, much less attention has been given to degradable alternatives for water-soluble polymers, which are also very difficult to isolate and recycle. This collaborative project with BASF will focus on studying and developing degradable alternatives to commercial water-soluble polymers. A series of polymers will be prepared and characterized. In addition, their biodegradability as a function of their structure will be studied. Their potential to replace current commercial polymers will be evaluated in application testing. It is anticipated that these alternative degradable polymers can replace conventional non-degradable polymers in applications such as water treatment, detergents, cosmetics and personal care products, oil processing, mining, and pulp and paper, which are all critical industries for Canada.