SusChEM: Building Superior Sustainable Polymers with Bioaromatics

在这个由化学系的大分子、超分子和纳米化学项目以及材料研究部的聚合物项目资助的项目中，佛罗里达大学化学系的Stephen Miller教授正在开发由生物可再生资源（生物塑料）制成的新型可降解塑料，如甘蔗废料。这些新型塑料在取代由石油原料制成的商业塑料方面取得了一些成功。然而，与石油衍生塑料相比，大多数生物塑料的机械和降解性能较差是其采用的主要障碍。米勒教授和他的研究小组正在研究如何将廉价的农业废物或林业废物转化为制造新型生物塑料的原料。来自此类废物流的原料不会与农业食品来源竞争。他们把重点放在化学上，使塑料表现出理想的机械行为，并在适当的环境条件下降解。米勒教授还为研究生提供研究培训，为他们未来在可持续发展科学和工程领域的职业生涯做好准备。米勒教授正在设计和合成以生物芳烃、香兰素和阿魏酸为基础的新型聚酯和聚缩醛。从造纸厂、玉米秸秆或甘蔗渣中可以大规模获得这些生物芳烃，这些生物芳烃是获得具有理想热机械性能的高玻璃化转变温度材料的关键结构成分。正在研究的控制热性能和降解行为的策略包括使用生物芳香族作为聚合物悬垂基团，创造生物芳香族多晶硅缩醛，以及生物芳香族与化学回收的聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇二酯共聚，从消费后的聚对苯二甲酸乙酯（PET）。大自然也丰富地提供异山梨酯、抗坏血酸、赤藓糖醇、衣康酸和琥珀酸二甲基。米勒教授也在研究如何从这些生物基分子中制备聚合物主链上存在环状基序的聚酯、聚缩醛或聚酰胺。预计所得聚合物具有链刚性、更高的玻璃化转变温度和可编程降解性。

In this project funded by the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program in the Division of Chemistry and the Polymer Program of the Division of Materials Research, Professor Stephen Miller of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Florida is developing new types of degradable plastics made from biorenewable sources (bioplastics), such as sugarcane waste. These new types of plastics have shown some success in replacing commercial plastics made from petroleum feed stocks. However, a major barrier to their adoption is the inferior mechanical and degradation properties of most bioplastics relative to the petroleum-derived plastics. Professor Miller and his research group are studying ways to convert inexpensive agricultural wastes or forestry wastes into feedstocks for making new types of bioplastics. Feedstocks derived from such waste streams do not compete with agricultural food sources. They are focusing on chemistry for making plastics that show desirable mechanical behaviors and that degrade under the appropriate environmental conditions. Professor Miller is also providing research training to graduate students and preparing them for future careers in sustainability science and engineering. Professor Miller is designing and synthesizing new classes of polyesters and polyacetals based on the bioaromatics, vanillin and ferulic acid. Available in large scale from a paper mill, corn stover, or sugarcane bagasse, these bioaromatics are key structural components to achieving high glass transition temperature materials with desirable thermomechanical properties. Strategies being examined to control thermal properties and degradation behavior include use of bioaromatics as polymer pendent groups, the creation of bioaromatic polysilicon acetals, and the copolymerization of bioaromatics with chemically recycled bis-hydroxyethylterephthalate, from post-consumer poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). Nature also abundantly supplies isosorbide, ascorbic acid, erythritol, itaconic acid, and dimethylsuccinyl succinate. Professor Miller is also studying ways to prepare polyesters, polyacetals, or polyamides with cyclic motifs present in the polymer main-chain from these bio-based molecules. The resulting polymers are predicted to possess chain rigidity, higher glass transition temperature, and programmable degradability.