Bioplastic polymers based on aromatic dicarboxylic acids derived from lignin

芳香族化学品在生物塑料中至关重要，以传达功能，包括强度和灵活性。目前，这些芳香族化学品只能来源于基于化石的投入，限制了应用，增加了成本和有害影响。木质素是植物中含量第二丰富的有机聚合物，是为数不多的天然芳香化合物来源之一。在一项成功的可行性研究的基础上，该研究证明了木质素中固有的芳香族二酸可以被提取并取代在聚酯基塑料中，该项目旨在证明这些代谢物可以以商业上可行的方式生产，通过创新使用改性细菌来选择性地控制木质素分解，与可扩展的间歇/连续反应器中的新型化学工艺相匹配。更大规模的试验将把产生的公斤量的二酸转化为新型嵌段共聚酯，用于价值> 1.5亿英镑的高价值全球生物塑料市场的评估。

Aromatic chemicals are crucial in bioplastics to convey functionality, including strength and flexibility. Currently, thesearomatic chemicals can only be sourced from fossil based inputs, limiting applications, increasing the cost andenvironmental impact. Lignin, the 2nd most abundant organic polymer in plants, is one of the few potential natural sourcesof aromatic chemicals. Building on a successful feasibility study that proved that the aromatic diacids inherent within lignincould be extracted and substituted in polyester based plastics, this project aims to demonstrate that these metabolites canbe produced in a commercially viable manner by the innovative use of modified bacteria to selectively control lignindisintegration when matched with novel chemical processes in scalable batch/continuous reactors. Larger trials will convertthe resultant kg quantities of diacids into novel block copolyesters, for evaluation in a high value global bioplastics marketof value >£150m.