Process and material refinement for increased efficiency and reduced costs of goods sold to bring novel domestic algae biomass to consumers within the pigment and ink markets

Petroleum derived carbon black dominates black colorants in every consumer product, but has many environmental, social and health related impacts. Very few alternatives are available and of those that are, none are derived from renewable sources grown in the United States. To address these concerns, Living Ink Technologies is leveraging the support provided by the Department of Energy SBIR program to generate renewable alternatives to carbon black by working with existing algae growers and using the waste algae biomass from these companies as a starting material for the production of Algae Black, a direct, drop-in replacement for petroleum derived carbon black. Living Ink applies a unique patented process that allows a multitude of algal biomass sources to be used as starting material. During the Phase I grant, Living Ink was able to demonstrate that their patented process transformed waste algae biomass from four different commercial algae producers into a pigment capable of replacing petroleum-derived carbon black in several different ink formulations used in consumer products. The company was also able to detail the Costs of Goods Sold as well as the Global Warming Potential for the production process for all algal biomass tested during the Phase I grant. To continue to develop a valuable process making pigments from algal derived biomass, the Living Ink team will refine the overall process used to make the pigment so that the resultant pigment has lower Costs of Goods Sold and a lower Global Warming Potential from what was identified in the Phase I grant. Additionally, the Living Ink team will demonstrate commercial scaleup of a selected algal biomass into several ink formulations for use in commercial projects with consumer brands. The work performed here will add value to domestic algae growers by valorizing their waste biomass and transforming the biomass into a valuable material capable of replacing a petroleum derived product. This grant will also help grow and sustain multiple domestic industries capable of utilizing biologically derived products for consumer goods.