3D printing of bioplastics for agricultural mulch and disposable food packaging products

从历史上看，在塑料革命之前，生物聚合物是许多消费级产品的主导材料。我们对环境和气候变化的关注转移，使得生物聚合物的使用成为对地球友好的选择，而不是传统的基于化石的材料和其他不可再生材料。为了解决这一问题，我们开发了一种利用3D打印技术快速制造造纸纤维-多糖复合膜的平台。该平台的核心是专利，并将权利授权给我们的工业合作伙伴BioForm Solution。此外，我们最近还申请了一项临时专利，将我们的打印平台插入到造纸领域的多层流浆箱中。我们的愿景是将这种打印机商业化，创造出立即进入农业覆盖和外卖食品包装市场的产品。我们在碳水化合物和聚合物化学、流体和固体力学、数学、材料科学和表征以及食品和土地系统方面的跨学科专家团队将与我们的行业合作伙伴Bioform Technologies Inc.合作，满足一次性塑料替代品的迫切商业需求。这个为期两年的项目将支持三名博士后研究员和一名不列颠哥伦比亚大学的硕士学生。

Historically, before the plastic revolution, biopolymers were the dominant material for many consumer level products. Our shifting focus on the environment and climate change makes the use of biopolymers a significantly planet friendly choice over traditional fossil based and other non-renewable materials. To address this, we have developed a platform to manufacture papermaking fibre-polysaccharide composite films rapidly using 3D printing technology. The core of the platform is patented, with the rights licensed to our industrial partner Bioform Solution. In addition, we have recently filed a provisional patent to insert our printing platform into a multilayered headbox in papermaking. Our vision is to commercialize this printer to create products for immediate entry into the agricultural mulches and take-away food packaging markets. Our interdisciplinary team of experts in carbohydrate and polymer chemistry, fluid and solid mechanics, mathematics, materials science and characterization, and food and land systems will work together with our industry partner Bioform Technologies Inc. to address the urgent commercial need for a single-use plastic replacement. This two-year program will support 3 post-doctoral fellows and a MSc student at the University of British Columbia.