SBIR Phase I: Production Pathways of Biopolymers for Barrier Paper Coatings

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to develop new sustainable packaging materials.An important class of materials is polyhydroxyalkonoates (PHA).Production of PHA from carbon sources has generally been associated with high costs, precluding widespread adoption. Natural gas and biogas are cost-effective alternatives, however, and established PHA-producing microbes use only about half the carbon from methane, releasing the rest as carbon dioxide. This project will develop protocols to use newly discovered microbes for efficient PHA production. The newly discovered microbial platform would enable efficient utilization of biogas with high carbon conversion, allowing high efficiency and (near) zero emission PHA production. The produced PHA will be formulated into barrier paper coatings for food service packaging that is recyclable, compostable, and marine-biodegradable.The proposed project will validate and develop the biological pathways for high-yield conversion of biogas using newly discovered microbes. Current PHA production remains noncompetitive to fossil-based polymers due to relatively high raw materials cost and low polymer yield with established microbial platforms, utilizing only a portion of the carbon from methane and emitting the rest as carbon dioxide. Breakthroughs in PHA production cost require high-efficiency carbon conversion. The microbes of interest have demonstrated improved carbon conversion, high polymer yield, and the promise for a (near) zero emission production. The goals of the project are to elucidate and optimize the cultivation parameters of the newly discovered cultures and build novel PHA copolymer pathways in the organisms by constructing synthetic biology framework(s).The project will also develop fermentation protocols that optimize yield for producing commercial PHA copolymers for further scaling.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.