BIOPLASTICS | MATERIALS
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) will engineer the enzymes using protein computational design methods. Once the enzymes are engineered, they will be sent to researchers at Stanford University to test their functionality – and then to Purdue, where researchers will analyse the speed of their reactions and their ability to tune the chemical structure of the polymer. Finally, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley will determine their properties and commercialisation potential Sankaranarayanan says that finding adaptable enzymes is one of the major challenges of the project. “The enzymes we’re working with – polyketide synthases (PKSs) – catalyse sequential chemical reactions in an assembly-line fashion to produce complex antibiotics,” said Sankaranarayanan. “But they’re not designed to work in the types of industrial processes that create bioplastics.” Because of this, the team is looking to alter their
natural chemical reaction – to produce the desired bioplastics – while improving the stability of the enzymes so they can be made at scale using biomanufacturing.
Green foam Researchers at TU Graz in Austria have developed certified biodegradable and recyclable multi- purpose foams – using cellulose in place of crude oil.
In the pan-European BreadCell project, an
international consortium has developed cellulose- based foams – which are biodegradable and recyclable – using a process like baking bread. “Cellulose is plant-based and available in large quantities,” said Stefan Spirk of the Institute of Bioproducts and Paper Technology at TU Graz. “Replacing oil-based products with cellulose is the goal – and the foams developed in the BreadCell project have a wide range of potential applications.” These include automotive (for crash impact
energy management), construction (as an insulating material) and sports (for sports equipment and shoe soles). The material also offers potential benefits in terms of moisture management and acoustics. A key part of the project was to find correlations between foam strength and fibre design using advanced simulation. To obtain the material input
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