SBIR Phase II: Sustainable Packaging Foam

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是通过用完全可生物降解和天然来源的替代品取代包装中的一次性塑料来减少垃圾填埋场废物和海洋塑料污染。消费者对更可持续解决方案的需求不断增加，以及电子商务运输的快速增长，使得企业迫切需要用可持续包装取代传统材料。该项目开发了一种生物良性泡沫，可以在大规模生产与drop-in兼容的制造工艺，以创造上级可生物降解的包装产品，成本与传统的发泡聚苯乙烯产品相似。这个小企业创新研究第二阶段项目将规模生产几丁质基泡沫，用于保护性包装。甲壳素是从虾壳废料中提取的多糖。该项目全面开发了一种可扩展的挤出工艺，可生产高质量的泡沫，非常适合大规模生产，以满足包装行业的需求。通过这个项目，开发的挤出工艺可以与供应链合作伙伴一起实施，以展示一种完全可扩展的可持续包装材料，可以满足行业日益增长的需求。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is the reduction in single use plastics that contribute to landfill waste and ocean plastic pollution by replacing these plastics in packaging with a fully biodegradable and naturally sourced alternative. Increasing consumer demand for more sustainable solutions as well as the rapid growth of ecommerce shipping has created an urgent industry need for companies to replace traditional materials with sustainable packaging. This project develops a bio-benign foam that can be produced at scale with drop-in compatible manufacturing processes to create superior biodegradable packaging products at similar cost to traditional expanded polystyrene products.This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project will scale the production processes of a chitin-based foam to be used as protective packaging. Chitin is a polysaccharide derived from shrimp shell waste. The project fully develop a scalable extrusion process that creates high quality foam and is well-suited to scale for mass production at volumes required to service the packaging industry. With this project, the extrusion process developed can be implemented with supply chain partners to show a fully scalable sustainable packaging material that can meet the increasing demands of the industry. The goals are to achieve high volume production with partners and create protective packaging with the same mechanical performance and density as expanded polystyrene.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.