SBIR Phase I: BP 1 - Microwaveable Bioplastic Packaging

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目开发下一代具有价格性能竞争力的生物塑料。经济和环境方面的考虑使人们非常希望找到石油基塑料的替代来源，作为防止污染和确保经济可持续性的手段。最近，世界上最大的零售商已经确定了使用可持续塑料包装的首选供应商。这项研究的目标是利用纳米技术开发新的“绿色”生物塑料，并通过与价值数十亿美元的沃尔玛供应商seal Air公司的合作，迅速走向商业化。该项目的智力价值在于推进生物塑料技术，使其可用于更广泛的商业应用。聚乳酸（PLA）是一种由玉米制成的生物塑料，但可以从任何可发酵的生物质资源中获得，包括丰富的纤维素。生命周期分析表明，与石油基塑料相比，它具有多重环境效益。但PLA的热变形温度（HDT）过低，限制了PLA的性能窗口。在以前的国家科学基金会资助下开发的大学专业知识被用于实现开发新的生物塑料纳米复合材料的研究目标，该复合材料克服了与微波食品包装相关的现有性能限制。新材料是在已知高分子科学和工程原理的指导下通过控制实验开发的。更广泛的影响将是提供具有适当性能的生物塑料，包括成本，作为泡沫和固体托盘塑料包装应用中聚苯乙烯的替代品。预计年消费量为1500 - 2000万磅/年，年销售额约为2000万美元。这些产品将减少该国对石油产品的依赖。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project develops next-generation price-performance competitive bioplastics. Economic and environmental concerns make it highly desirable to find alternative sources for petroleum based plastics as a means of preventing pollution and ensuring economic sustainability. Recently the world's largest retailers have identified preferred suppliers that use sustainable plastics packaging. The reserach objective is to use nanotechnology to develop new "green" bioplastics and to move rapidly towards commercialization through a partnership with the multi-billion dollar Sealed Air Corporation, a supplier to Wal-Mart. The intellectual merit of the project rests in advancing the technology of bioplastics so that they may be used in a wider variety of commercial applications. Polylactide (PLA) is a bioplastic made from corn but available from any fermentable biomass resource, including plentiful cellulosics. Life cycle analysis shows multiple environmental benefits over petroleum-based plastics. However, the property window of PLA is limited - the heat distortion temperature (HDT) is too low. University expertise developed under previous NSF funding is exploited to achieve the research objective of developing new bioplastic nanocomposites that overcome existing property limitations relevant to microwaveable food packaging. The new materials are developed through controlled experimentation guided by known principles of polymer science and engineering.The broader impact will be to provide bioplastics having suitable properties, including cost, to serve as a replacement for polystyrene in foamed and solid tray plastic packaging applications. Projections suggest annual consumption of 15-20 million lbs/year with an annual sales volume of approximately $20 million. Such products will reduce the country's dependence on petroleum products.