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Biobased polymers and their application
When nylon is mentioned, most people think of stockings. Not many know that it is also used to make bristles for toothbrushes. Today, the polyamide family is an important group of diverse plastics used in many everyday products such as clothing, cars and sports equipment.
The future of polymers is "biobased"! (Photo credit: istock@bdspn)
Nowadays, most of these are still petroleum-based. Only a few polyamides are based on renewable raw materials such as polyamide 10.10, which is obtained from the oil of the castor plant. However, bio-based polyamides are often significantly more expensive and can only hold their own on the market against petroleum products if they possess special, novel properties.
Researchers at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have succeeded in developing a new polyamide family formed from the biogenic starting material (+)-3-carene[1]. The new high-performance polyamides have impressive special properties that make them attractive for many applications. For example, they only soften at higher temperatures than comparable petroleum products, and the new polymers can be made both transparent and semi-crystalline. Reaction in one reaction vessel lowers costs and contributes to more sustainable production.
The starting material for (+)-3-carene is turpentine oil, a byproduct of the cellulose industry. This not only adds great value to turpentine oil, which has previously been used for energy production, but also opens up an industrial by-product stream in terms of co-use at the same time. The cultivation of renewable raw materials and thus also the competition for land with food production is eliminated.
Sustainable economy with bio-based materials
Not only polyamides, but a large number of conventional plastics based on fossil raw materials can already be replaced by bio-based plastics today. These can be obtained from a wide variety of biogenic raw materials. The basis can be, for example, renewable raw materials such as sugar beets, starch plants or dandelions, but also biogenic residues from agriculture or organic waste. The components of wood, cellulose, lignin and hemicellulose, can also be used specifically to produce higher-value products. Even algae can be used as producers of biomass.
By cultivating and using appropriate feedstock plants, with CO2 being bound by photosynthesis, the material use of biomass contributes to the reduction of CO2 emissions. As a result, no new CO2 is introduced into the atmosphere and no unwanted emissions are generated by the extraction of fossil raw materials. More sustainable use is achieved through intelligent coupling and cascade use of the various biomass material streams, up to and including recycling of produced materials in sustainable material cycles. Only by combining bioeconomics and circular economy, a sustainable economy and production becomes possible.
Biobased polymers
The applications of bio-based polymers are diverse. (Photo credit: Fotolia/artemegorov)
Depending on the raw material origin (fossil/biogenic resp. from renewable resources) and the properties of the final polymer (degradable/nondegradable), plastics are classified into one of four groups:
- conventional petroleum-based polymers
- biobased polymers that are not biodegradable
- biopolymers from renewable resources that are biodegradable
- biopolymers from fossil raw materials that are biodegradable.
While biobased polymers do not necessarily have the property of being biodegradable. In the biopolymers can be bio-based drop-in solutions, i.e. a plastic previously made from fossil raw materials and now made from renewable raw materials (including bio-PET, bio-PP...), or a novel biopolymer (including PLA, PEF). Drop-in solutions have the advantage that the plastics have the same properties and can therefore be processed using the same processes and equipment as before.
In contrast, novel bio-based polymers have different properties. For them, manufacturing, processing and, if necessary, recycling processes must first be developed at great expense. PLA (polylactide, polylactic acid) and PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoates) are two examples of novel biopolymers that are of biogenic origin and biodegradable. PLA is produced on the basis of corn via biotechnological processes. PHA is a naturally occurring storage material in bacteria that can be processed into a material with the help of additives.
Proteins can also be processed into technical materials. For example, the Munich-based company AMSilk biotechnologically produces spider silk proteins that are spun out into biobased fibers.
The applications for biobased polymers are extremely diverse. From textile fibers, packaging and adhesives to materials for the automotive, construction and sports industries, almost all areas of application are conceivable.
Exchange and networking as a core element
The transformation from a linear economy based on fossil raw materials to a sustainable economy fit for the future requires new technologies, innovative solutions and transdisciplinary approaches. No one can do this alone. The exchange between stakeholders and experts from different industries is particularly important.
Exchange on the future of bio-based polymers at our cluster meeting on November 4, 2020. (Photo credit: Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB) This is the goal of the virtual cluster meeting "Biobased polymers for the requirements of the future", which will be held on November 4, 2020, the day before the Online-Forum „Biopolymere“ statt findet. Find out about current developments in biobased polymers. Exchange ideas with other stakeholders and take advantage of the offer to be informed by Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft scientists about new approaches for your own products based on concrete examples.