Biomass Derived Sustainable Polymers: 1,5-Pentanediol Based Polyester Polyols

Diversifying and providing biobased alternatives to products from oil are critical for increasing U.S. energy security, developing a clean energy security and creating domestic jobs. Diols are a class of chemicals used by the chemical industry to produce polyester polyol polymers and polycarbonate diols, which are used in the manufacture of plastics, paints, coatings and adhesives. Currently, all 4- to 6-carbon (C4-C6) diols are manufactured from petroleum. This is a problem for companies that use diols, because the price of their feedstock is entirely dependent on the volatile oil market, creating unpredictability in pricing and margins. To enable a circular carbon economy without sacrifice of performance and economics, Pyran LLC has developed a “green,” patented and proprietary chemical reaction technology to produce PyranDiol, a low-cost 1,5-pentanediol (1,5-PDO) made from renewable raw materials that is also a drop-in replacement for C4-C6 oil-based diols. Pyran’s technology was developed over the course of three years as part of a $3.3 million U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant. PyranDiol-based polyols have strong potential as cost-effective and high performance building blocks in a broad array applications. During Phase I, Pyran will (1) demonstrate production of high purity PyranDiol (2) synthesize and characterize polymeric materials using PyranDiol and (3) estimate both the properties and costs of producing these new materials. The functionality of the biomass derived monomers will be exploited to create new plastic materials that have improved performance in different target applications. This project addresses the DOE’s commitment to “targeting bio-derived plastics designed with end-of-life considerations in mind that can enable a circular carbon economy”. Rigorous techno-economic analysis shows that this “green” 1,5-PDO can be made at 1/3rd of the current oil-derived 1,5-PDO market price, opening new opportunities to use it as a renewable monomer for the plastics, paints, coatings, and adhesives industries. Obtaining the physicochemical and functional properties of PyranDiol-based polymers will be essential prior to the next scale-up phase of our development into Phase II or Phase III and beyond. The polymers prototypes created from renewable 1,5-PDO will allow potential customers to do concept tests.