polymerguru

The Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB is using a new, recently patented process to develop new polyamides from the terpene 3-carene, a residual material from the cellulose industry. The biobased polyamides Caramid-R® and Caramid-S® produced using this process represent a new class of polyamides with outstanding thermal properties. The production of the monomer for Caramid-S® was already successfully piloted in a 100-liter scale. The Fraunhofer researchers are presenting the new polyamides at the K trade fair (Hall 7.0, Stand SC01). From Wood Waste to High-performance Polymers The Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB has developed a sustainable alternative to petrochemically produced plastics using terpenes found in resin-rich wood. The natural substances are available from conifers such as pine, larch or spruce. In the production of pulp, in which wood is broken down to separate the cellulose fibers, the terp...

Coca-Cola has unveiled the first ever sample bottle made using recovered and recycled marine plastics, demonstrating that, one day, even ocean debris could be used in recycled packaging for food or drinks. This sample is the first ever plastic bottle made using marine litter that has been successfully recycled and reused in food and drink packaging. About 300 sample bottles have been produced using 25% recycled marine plastic, retrieved from the Mediterranean Sea and beaches. A small step for now, but the technology behind it has big potential. Revolutionary Enhanced Recycling Technologies The marine plastic bottle has been developed to show the transformational potential of revolutionary ‘enhanced recycling’ technologies, which can recycle previously used plastics of any quality back to the high-quality needed for food or drinks packaging. Enhanced recycling technologies use innovative processes that break down the components of plastic and strip out impurities in lo...

Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion (MPI CEC) launched a joint sustainability project with Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia to produce sustainable chemical products from Vernonia galamensis. MPI Director Prof. Walter Leitner and his department at MPI CEC focuses on "green chemistry".  Their research is concerned with the manufacture of chemical products without using fossil resources. Green Collaboration Leitner, an honorary member of the Chemical Society of Ethiopia, initiated the collaboration together with Prof. Yonas Chebude, Head of the Faculty of Chemistry in Addis Ababa.  Prof. Chebude and his team are conducting intensive research in Ethiopia on the conversion of biomass into chemically usable products.  Vernonia galamensis – Raw material for Epoxidized Oil They are currently focused on the plant Vernonia galamensis - normally thought of as a "weed". The plant produces 40% epoxidized oil which is promising for industrial produ...

Researchers at TU Berlin are researching to replace plastics from petroleum - with the help of bacteria. Waste Fats: Raw Material for Alternative PHA A timid approach to dealing with plastic plague is PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoates). They are biopolymers and are used widely as they are like plastic from fossil fuels. " Half of the two million tons of bioplastics that are currently produced worldwide per year are not biodegradable and the other half are sometimes difficult to ," says Riedel. Therefore, a need arises for alternative PHA based on other raw materials. The raw material can be obtained from many substances like corn, sugar, glycerine or palm oil. Sebastian L. Riedel and Stefan Junne, however, had a basic product that does not pollute the climate and is not food or feed such as corn as such a source material is considered problematic. In the search for an alternative,  they decided waste fats  among other things, which are incurred, inter alia, in agriculture (ani...

Caltech researchers have helped to design a new generation of heart valves that are longer-lasting, cost less to manufacture, and are more biocompatible than options that are currently available to patients. As part of an FDA trial, one of the new valves was implanted into a human for the first time in late July. New Tria Valve for Aortic Valve Disease  The new Tria heart valve was created by Foldax® Inc., a Caltech startup cofounded by Mory Gharib, the Hans W. Liepmann Professor of Aeronautics and Bioinspired Engineering in the Division of Engineering and Applied Science. Gharib and his team worked closely with Foldax lead designer Jason Beith in designing the new valve. It was implanted in a patient with aortic valve disease at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, as part of an FDA Early Feasibility Study (EFS). Newly Developed Biopolymer Material for Durability The Tria valve uses a newly developed biopolymer material coupled with a bioinspired shape to create a v...