SBIR Phase II: High-Performance and Green Materials Based on Engineered Cellulose-Producing Bacteria

SBIR第二阶段：基于工程纤维素生产细菌的高性能绿色材料

• 批准号: 2310226
• 负责人: Lina Gonzalez
• 金额: $ 100万
• 依托单位: SPADXTECH LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-09-01 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2310226&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; II; Performance; Green

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by replacing plastics with cellulose secreted by genetically modified bacteria in the form of synthetic leather. This substitution effort will assist the USA in reaching net-zero GHG emissions by saving over 660 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) or CO2-equivalent gases by 2050. Replacing synthetic leathers made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) polyurethane (PU) or hide-based leather with bacterial cellulose will have significant environmental benefits. Being petroleum-based, PVC and PU production has significant GHG emissions. Genuine leather requires transport of hides to tanneries, most of which are no longer located in the USA. Additionally, the water-intensive tanning and dyeing processes produce toxic wastes. In contrast, growth and processing of bacterial cellulose produces little to no toxic waste and few GHG emissions. Further, the material is biodegradable (unlike PVC or PU), which is appealing to consumers in the rapidly growing market for vegan leather. Scale-up of the production to replace plastics worldwide with this sustainable material will reduce trash generation and alleviate the problem of plastic waste in the environment. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will enhance the properties of the existing synthetic leather materials and will develop the technology to produce large quantities of the material at low cost. Composed of bacterial cellulose, this high-performance, environmentally friendly material will impact the textile, construction, and packaging industries. The material looks, feels, and performs like real leather having desirable properties such as suppleness, sew-ability, and high tensile strength. The initial focus will be on creating a vegan leather alternative consisting of multiple cellulose sheets combined using a proprietary formulation. This project will enable the refinement of the material to meet industry standards for durability (e.g., water resistance, flex resistance, abrasion resistance, colorfastness) and aesthetics (color and patterns) and will develop the processes for producing the material at a commercial scale to meet market demand for quantity and price. Further, the fast-growing bacterial strains provide a competitive advantage for scale-up. The research will provide a solid scientific foundation to produce much larger quantities of this cellulose-based material at competitive prices for other applications such as insulation for the construction industry.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）II期项目的更广泛/商业影响是减少温室气（GHG）排放，通过以合成皮革的形式用基因修饰的细菌分泌的纤维素代替塑料。到2050年，这种替代工作将通过节省超过6.6亿吨二氧化碳（CO2）或CO2等效气体来帮助美国达到零温室气体的排放。替换由聚乙烯基氯化物（PVC）聚乙烯（PU）聚氨酯（PU）或基于PACETERIAL CALTERIAL ENCECTAL ENRICERAL的皮革将具有重大环境效果。 PVC和PU生产是基于石油的，具有明显的温室气体排放。真正的皮革需要将皮革运输到制革厂，其中大多数不再位于美国。 此外，水密集型晒黑和染色过程会产生有毒废物。相比之下，细菌纤维素的生长和加工几乎没有有毒废物，几乎没有温室气体排放。此外，该材料是可生物降解的（与PVC或PU不同），这吸引了素食皮革快速增长的市场中的消费者。用这种可持续材料在全球范围内取代塑料的生产扩展将减少垃圾的产生并减轻环境中塑料废物的问题。这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）II期项目将增强现有合成皮革材料的性能，并将开发以低成本生产大量材料的技术。由细菌纤维素组成，这种高性能，环保的材料将影响纺织品，建筑和包装行业。材料的外观，感觉和表现就像是真正的皮革具有理想的特性，例如柔软，缝纫和高拉伸强度。最初的重点将是创建由使用专有配方组合的多个纤维素片组成的纯素皮革替代品。该项目将使材料的完善能够符合行业的耐用性标准（例如，防水性，抗弯曲性，耐磨性，耐加工性）和美学（颜色和图案），并将开发以商业规模生产材料以满足市场需求的材料的过程。此外，快速增长的细菌菌株为扩大规模提供了竞争优势。这项研究将为稳定的科学基础提供较大数量的基于纤维素的材料，以具有竞争力的其他应用（例如建筑行业的绝缘材料）来生产基于纤维素的材料。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并认为值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准通过评估来获得支持。