Sustainable Biopolymer Alternatives for Fossil-Fuel Derived Foams

Statement of the problem or situation that is being addressed in your application. Fossil-fuel derived plastic foams are commonly used as packaging materials. These materials include expanded polystyrene, polyethylene, and polyurethane. However, the production and use of these materials is associated with high greenhouse gas emissions. Regulations are emerging in the United States and Europe that necessitate sustainable replacements to commonly used materials such as foams, adhesives, resins, and others. Ľ General statement of how this problem is being addressed. This small business will collaborate with university collaborators to develop a bio-derived foam material to replace fossil-fuel derived foams using our existing low cost, non-hazardous process. This technology produces a mechanically stable foam that can withstand repeated compression-release cycles and maintain mechanical integrity, which makes them suitable for packaging foams. The biofoam offers robust mechanical, physical, and thermal properties while being lightweight, non-toxic, and renewable. Ľ What is to be done in Phase I? In Phase I, this small business will: (1) refine the biopolymer foams for use in packaging applications, (2) vary the foam density, mechanical stiffness, and form factor to determine the optimum process for producing biopolymer foam substitutes for fossil-fuel derived packaging foam, (3) iterate upon the biopolymer foamĺs production process and test the resulting foams until the technical objectives are met, (4) create a catalogue of biofoam products with properties tailored for specific applications. Ľ Commercial Applications and Other Benefits. The current foams include expanded polystyrene foam, polyurethane foam, and polyethylene foam. The packaging market includes food &beverage packaging, electronics packaging, automotive packaging, industrial packaging, healthcare packaging and others. This small businessĺs foamĺs biodegradability and low greenhouse gas emissions are expected to be of interest primarily to eco-friendly companies that focus on ôgreenö customer appeal. We expect to work closely with eco-friendly companies and plan to reach out to foam distributors during the Phase I program.