Minnesota University receives grant to develop sustainable bioplastics

The University of Minnesota’s Centre for Sustainable Polymers has been awarded a $20 million grant over five years from the National Science Foundation (NSF) focused on discoveries of the next generation of biobased plastics.

This award will examine how plastics are made and unmade through innovative research, engaging education, and diverse partnerships that together foster environmental stewardship.

The centre will be one of only eight NSF Centres for Chemical Innovation in the entire nation.

The Phase II Centre for Chemical Innovation program represents one of the most significant investments by the NSF’s division of chemistry. The Centre for Sustainable Polymers draws together researchers from the University of Minnesota, Cornell University, and the University of California, Berkeley, along with more than 30 companies from across the nation.

“There are biobased plastics that are already in the market, but our goal is to make them lower cost and higher performance to compete with plastics developed from non-renewable sources,” said Marc Hillmyer, the director of the Centre for Sustainable Polymers and chemistry professor in the University of Minnesota’s College of Science and Engineering. “Our research will accelerate these discoveries and, with help from industry partners, we expect to realise translation of our work to products in the market.”

Tackling a challenging goal

The Centre for Sustainable Polymers is taking a comprehensive approach to tackle this challenging goal. Abundant and sustainable plant-derived biomass will be converted into plastics by combining new methods in synthetic green chemistry with innovative processing techniques leading to materials for many different products used in everything from food and beverage packaging to health care. These new plastics will be non-toxic in use, bio-degradable, recycled or incinerated by environmentally sound methods, and attractive to consumers from both a cost and performance standpoint.

Some of these discoveries are becoming a reality. Researchers at the University of Minnesota recently combined expertise in biosynthesis, chemical engineering, metabolic pathway engineering, materials science, and polymer chemistry to build biobased block copolymers, an emerging class of high-performance materials, from purely sugar-derived building blocks. This patented technology is being marketed to industries that can translate this discovery into innovative products.

“The Centre will play a key role in establishing the basic knowledge needed to reduce the nation’s reliance on finite feedstocks by developing environmentally friendly, cost-effective plastics from natural, sustainable and renewable materials,” said Tanja Pietrass, acting division director of the NSF division of chemistry. “This work will contribute to the growing US bio-based polymer market, projected to value $7 billion by 2018.”

Expanding education and outreach

While the majority of the grant will be used for research, funding will also enhance and expand innovative education and outreach programs. More than three dozen graduate students and post-doctoral researchers will be involved in all aspects of the centre’s research, education and outreach activities. In addition, senior investigators also will have the opportunity to mentor undergraduate students in their labs in a 10-week summer research program.