STTR Phase I: High performance biodegradable sandwich core structures

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是减少人类接触有害化学物质，减少温室气体排放，减少生物可降解泡沫塑料产品的固体废物量。这个项目描述了一个项目，开发可生物降解的塑料杯和其他产品，使用三明治工艺，包括泡沫芯。夹层结构提供的强度旨在减轻重量，从而减少对环境的影响。生产塑料?这项技术用较少的植物基聚合物取代了石油基聚合物。在Grow Plastic的生产过程中使用的植物基聚合物不含有害化学物质，不会渗入人体和环境，每磅二氧化碳排放量仅为使用的三分之一。Grow Plastic的技术使石油基塑料的替代量仅为植物基塑料的1/3，按重量计算，固体废物减少高达67%，原材料二氧化碳排放量减少高达90%。本一期研究项目的技术目标是将泡沫塑料制品的使用温度至少提高到95摄氏度，同时将聚合物密度保持在0.1克/立方厘米以下。在聚合物产品中，塑料的重量是产品成本的关键驱动因素。这个第一阶段的研究项目是Grow Plastics和西华盛顿大学的合作项目，将使用聚合物混合、固态发泡和聚合物结晶来生成用于评估的样品。样品将通过动态力学分析、差示扫描量热法、扫描电子显微镜和最终产品的产品刚度评估来评估热性能。该研究项目将寻求开发使用温度至少为95摄氏度的极轻产品。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will be a reduction in human exposure to harmful chemicals, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and reduced volumes of solid waste for biodegradable foam plastic products. This project describes a project to develop biodegradable plastic cups and other products using a sandwich process that includes a foam core. The strength provided by the sandwich structure is designed to allow weight reduction which reduces the environmental impact. Grow Plastics? technology replaces petroleum-based polymers with reduced amounts of plant-based polymers. The plant-based polymers used in Grow Plastic's process contain no harmful chemicals to leach into humans and the environment and generate as little as 1/3 the CO2 emissions per pound used. Grow Plastic's technology enables the replacement of petroleum based plastics with as little as 1/3 the plant-based plastic, reducing solid waste by up to 67% by weight, and CO2 emissions from raw materials by as much as 90%.The technical objectives in this Phase I research project are to increase the service temperature of foam plastic products to at least 95 Celsius, while maintaining polymer densities below 0.1 grams/cubic centimeter. In polymer products, the weight of plastic used is a key driver in product cost. This Phase I research project, a partnership between Grow Plastics and Western Washington University, will use polymer blending, solid state foaming and polymer crystallization in order to generate samples for evaluation. Samples will be evaluated in terms of thermal performance through dynamic mechanical analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, and evaluation of product rigidity for final products. The research project will seek to develop extremely lightweight products with service temperatures of at least 95 Celsius.