Researchers to Develop Bio-based Plasticizer for Elastomers and Thermoplastics

 The Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS is working with partners to develop a non-toxic plasticizer. This plasticizer will also be marketable, completely bio-based, and for use in elastomers and thermoplastics.

Using rapeseed oil as a starting product, more sustainable solutions for tires and packaging should become possible. The project partners also want to design a corresponding pilot plant in central Germany as part of the "Biocerine" project.

Finding Alternatives from Renewable Raw Materials

Plasticizers are used to make plastics more flexible and pliable during the manufacturing process and/or during subsequent use. However, common industrially produced plasticizers such as phthalates are viewed critically because some of them can be potentially harmful to health and/or pollute the environment.

“Such plasticizers are not only frequently used in traditional plastics, but also in biopolymers, whose environmental compatibility they then impair. For this reason, alternatives are being sought worldwide that offer at least comparable quality at affordable prices and can ideally be produced from renewable raw materials,” says Dr. Patrick Hirsch, Group Leader “Sustainable Materials and Processes”, who is leading the project at the Fraunhofer IMWS.

This is precisely the solution the partners want to find within the project, which is being funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research as part of the “WIR! - Change through Innovation in the Region” program.

The consortium is relying on the expertise and opportunities already available in Central Germany. In addition to the Fraunhofer IMWS, GLACONCHEMIE GmbH and Polymer Service GmbH from Merseburg are also involved, while Folienwerk Wolfen, Expinos GmbH and Reifenwerk Heidenau GmbH will test the product samples created in the research project as associated partners.

New Plasticizer to Have Improved Migration Behavior:

The project partners are focusing on bio-based glycerin derivatives, which are obtained on an industrial scale from rapeseed oil, for example, and can be specially adapted to the requirements of different polymer materials.

The new type of plasticizer should have improved migration behavior in thermoplastic and elastomeric biopolymers, which has advantages in particular for the processability and long-term use of these materials.

“Specifically, we want to produce alcohols from this bio-based glycerin, which are then esterified with special fatty acids. In the second step of the synthesis, their double bonds are epoxidized,” says Hirsch, describing the approach. The bio-based plasticizers developed are then incorporated into thermoplastic and elastomeric biopolymers, for example for films, packaging, or tire compounds.

source: Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems/polymr-additives.specialchem.com