Functionalised biopolymers - a new class of renewable nano-engineered materials

Licella是一家澳大利亚初创公司，专注于开发可再生资源木质纤维素生物质的用途；一种主要来源于废弃物的纤维材料，如林业和农业生产产生的废弃物。利用这些废物并对其进行处理以分离生物质成分是可能的。该项目建议用活性自由基聚合（LPR）聚合物修饰这些生物质组分，以赋予其功能，如抗菌性能、高抗拉强度和/或内置光降解性。像这样的新型高性能可持续材料将成为未来聚合物/塑料工业的支柱，用良性的可持续塑料取代来自不可再生石化产品的普通塑料。

Licella is an Australian start-up company, focusing on developing uses for the renewable resource lignocellulosic biomass; a fibrous material sourced principally from waste, such as that generated by forestry and agricultural operations. It is possible to use such waste and process it to separate the biomass components. This project proposes to modify these biomass fractions with living radical polymerisation (LPR) polymers to impart functionalities, such as antimicrobial properties, high tensile strengths and/or in-built photodegrability. New, high-performance sustainable materials like these will be the back-bone of the polymer/plastics industry of the future, replacing common plastics, sourced from non-renewable petrochemicals, with benign, sustainable plastics.