I-Corps: Process for upcycling plastic waste into a building material

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是通过将废塑料升级为建筑产品，为碳密集型建筑材料提供一种替代品。由混凝土和高性能添加剂组成的建筑产品的选择越来越多，这表明对轻质、浇筑饰面材料的需求，可以减少所需的支撑结构数量。鉴于废塑料的广泛可用性，将这种废物转化为建筑产品的资源，在满足客户预算和设计目标的同时满足这一需求，这是一个巨大的潜力。这种复合材料为设计师和建筑商提供了可持续材料，重量更轻，成品材料降低了备用结构的成本。与现有的复合材料产品相比，该产品还提供了更高比例的回收成分，对环境的影响也更小。产品的外观可以根据不同的颜色，纹理和图案进行定制。向前设计和可持续发展驱动的建筑师和建筑商可以实现他们的可持续发展目标，并通过适应他们独特设计愿景的回收材料来实现这些价值。这个I-Corps项目将建立在对废热塑性聚合物的整体热铸研究的基础上，用骨料将普通塑料废物升级为建筑应用的岩石状材料。回收废旧聚合物通常涉及广泛的分类，处理和尺寸减少，导致均质产品，其中回收的内容是难以察觉的。将聚合物与聚合体结合和热铸的方法允许输入尺寸和聚合物类型的更不均匀的范围，以生产类似石头的复合材料。与需要高压和/或高温以及在模具中长时间冷却的类似规模的铸造建筑组件相比，该过程能耗相对较低。通过调节工艺参数，可以生成高度校准的石头样纹理和表面图案。需要对废聚合物混合物和废骨料进行进一步分析，以使产品规格符合非结构建筑材料的监管标准，如强度、抗紫外线性和阻燃性。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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 I-Corps project is to provide an alternative to carbon-intensive construction materials by upcycling waste plastics into building products. The growing options of building products composed of concrete and high-performing additives points to a demand for lightweight, cast finish materials that can reduce the amount of support structure needed. Given the widespread availability of waste plastics, there is great potential for translating this waste into a resource for architectural product that address this demand while meeting the customer's budget and design goals. This composite material offers designers and builders seeking sustainable materials lighter weight, finished materials that reduce cost of back-up structure. The product also offers a higher percentage of recycled content than available composite products and a lower environmental impact. The products' appearance are customizable in terms of varying color, texture, and patterning. Design-forward and sustainability-driven architects and builders may reach their sustainability goals and project those values through recycled materials adapted to their distinct design vision.This I-Corps project will build upon a lineage of investigations into monolithic thermocasting of waste thermoplastic polymers with aggregates to upcycle common plastic waste into a rock-like material for architectural applications. Recycling waste polymers typically involves extensive sorting, processing, and size-reduction, resulting in homogenized products in which the recycled content is imperceptible. The method of combining and thermocasting polymers with aggregates allows for a more heterogeneous range of input sizes and polymer types to produce a stone-like composite material. The process is relatively low-energy compared to that of similarly scaled cast building components that require high pressures and/or high temperatures and long periods of cooling in the molds. A highly calibrated range of stone-like textures and surface patterns can be generated by modulating process parameters. Further analysis of waste polymer blends and waste aggregates is needed to align product specifications with regulatory criteria for non-structural building materials such as strength, UV resistance, and flame resistance.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.