I-Corps: Natural Product-based, Mechanically-diverse Degradable Engineering Materials

I-Corps项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力将是使用可降解的天然产品材料，减少环境中丢失和丢弃的塑料制品造成的污染。天然产物基聚碳酸酯具有显著的潜在环境和社会影响，因为它们由天然产物制成，减少了聚合物材料对石油基原料的依赖性。 这些聚碳酸酯材料的另一个优点是，在降解时，它们再生天然产物和二氧化碳，从而具有环境再吸收的潜力。 可降解聚合物材料的商业潜力是广泛的，因为它们可以快速生产，并具有广泛的可调机械性能，可以用于各种商业产品，从一次性食品容器到高性能工程材料。这个I-Corps项目涉及一个安全，可持续的解决方案，以应对耐用塑料材料的挑战，这些材料可能会污染和破坏海洋和其他环境。 这种I-Corps技术涉及使用丰富的天然产品来生产具有一系列物理和机械特性的聚合物网络和复合材料，以及程序化的分解途径。 已经开发了合成策略以将葡萄糖、奎尼酸和其他天然产物转化为多官能单体，所述多官能单体可以使用光化学或热引发的交联快速聚合以提供独特的聚碳酸酯材料。 通过在交联过程中使用模具，这些材料可以制成许多形状和尺寸。 具有从橡胶弹性体到刚性塑料的机械特性的聚碳酸酯可以通过改变交联条件来实现。 水解降解时间可以根据交联密度和亲水性进行调整。 这些材料也证明对细胞生长没有负面影响。 总之，可以采用简单的制造技术和快速、可靠的化学方法的组合来获得具有广泛物理和机械性能的通用且无毒的天然材料家族，从而在广泛的应用中产生商业前景。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project will be the use of degradable natural product-based materials for the reduction of pollution stemming from lost and discarded plastic goods in the environment. Natural product-based polycarbonates have significant potential environmental and societal impact, as they are made from natural products, reducing the dependency of polymeric materials on petroleum-based feedstocks. Another advantage of these polycarbonate materials is that upon degradation, they reproduce natural products and carbon dioxide, giving the potential for environmental resorption. The commercial potential of degradable polymer materials is extensive when they can be produced rapidly and have broadly-tunable mechanical properties, allowing for their use in a diverse range of commercial products, from disposable food containers to high performance engineering materials.This I-Corps project involves a safe, sustainable solution to the challenge of durable plastic materials that can foul and damage marine and other environments. This I-Corps technology involves the use of abundant natural products to produce polymer networks and composite materials having a range of physical and mechanical properties, and a programmed disintegration pathway. Synthetic strategies have been developed to transform glucose, quinic acid, and other natural products into multi-functional monomers that can be rapidly polymerized using photochemically- or thermally-initiated crosslinking to afford unique polycarbonate materials. Through the use of molds during crosslinking, these materials can be fabricated into many shapes and sizes. Polycarbonates with mechanical characteristics from a rubbery elastomer to a rigid plastic can be achieved by varying the crosslinking conditions. Hydrolytic degradation times can be tuned, depending on the crosslink density and hydrophilicity. These materials have also demonstrated no negative effects on the growth of cells. In summary, a combination of simple fabrication techniques and rapid, reliable chemistry can be employed to obtain a versatile and non-toxic natural family of materials with a breadth of physical and mechanical properties, generating commercial promise in a wide range of applications.