I-Corps: A sustainable foam from shrimp shells

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是用上循环的虾壳废料制成的结构泡沫取代来自不可持续来源的塑料结构泡沫。聚合物泡沫是从建筑到汽车以及包装和体育用品等许多现代技术的重要组成部分。不可持续的结构泡沫塑料是一个每年3500亿美元的市场，主要由聚氨酯和聚苯乙烯(泡沫塑料)组成。聚氨酯和聚苯乙烯需要500年的时间才能降解并产生30%的垃圾填埋场。据预测，到2050年，海洋中的塑料将比鱼还多。天然材料是生产聚合物泡沫的有吸引力的替代材料，但它们通常缺乏所需的机械性能或适当的加工。我们的技术使用一种水基环保工艺将海鲜废弃物中含有的生物聚合物甲壳素转化为泡沫。生成的天然泡沫塑料的生产成本较低，并且与聚苯乙烯和聚氨酯泡沫塑料的性能非常匹配。这个i-Corps项目将检查来自各个结构泡沫市场的潜在客户的客户发现数据，以找到最适合市场的产品，并确定对可持续结构泡沫的未满足需求。在地区I-Corps课程期间，我们完成了对冲浪板塑型师、冲浪板制造商、专业冲浪者和其他与冲浪板相关的可持续行业专家的采访，他们已经证实了将可持续和可生物降解的泡沫用作冲浪板建造的核心材料的价值。我们计划进一步探索我们的可持续和可生物降解泡沫的其他潜在工业应用。我们将采访包装、运输和建筑等行业创新研究部门的项目和业务经理，以确定适合这些应用的产品市场。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为是值得支持的。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to replace plastic structural foam from non-sustainable sources with structural foam made with up-cycled shrimp shell waste. Polymer foams are an important component of many modern technologies from construction to automotive as well as packaging and sporting goods. Non-sustainable structural foam is a $350 billion/year market comprised mainly of polyurethane and polystyrene (styrofoam). Polyurethane and polystyrene require 500 years to degrade and create 30% of land-fill waste. It has been predicted that by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean. Natural materials are an attractive alternative for producing polymer foams, but often they lack the required mechanical properties or appropriate processing. Our technology transforms the biopolymer, chitin, contained in seafood waste into foam using a water-based environmentally friendly process. The resulting natural foam is less costly to produce and closely matches the properties of polystyrene and polyurethane foams.This I-Corps project will examine costumer discovery data from potential customers in various structural foam markets to find the best market fit and identify the unfulfilled needs for sustainable structural foam. During the regional I-Corps course, we completed interviews with surfboard shapers, surfboard manufacturers, professional surfers, and other sustainable industry experts related to surfboards who have validated the value of having sustainable and biodegradable foam for use as the core material in surfboard construction. We plan to further explore other potential industrial applications for our sustainable and biodegradable foam. We will interview project and business managers from innovation research departments within industries such as packaging, transportation, and construction to determine product-market fit for these applications. The goal being to find the best fit for the technology in the global polymer foams market.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.