Biobased And Biodegradable Polymers For A Sustainable Future

生物基和可生物降解聚合物创造可持续的未来

• 批准号: EP/X025489/1
• 负责人: SM Howdle
• 金额: $ 321.63万
• 依托单位: University of Nottingham
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FX025489%2F1
• 关键词: Biobased; Biodegradable; Polymers; Sustainable; Future

Polymers in Liquid Formulations (PLFs) are a broad group of polymers that are used as thickeners, emulsifiers and binders in many day-to-day items including household detergents, cosmetics and agrochemicals. The vast majority of these polymers are derived from fossil fuel sources and they do not degrade in the environment. A recent report from the Royal Society of Chemistry has estimated that more than 36mn tonnes of these ingredients (enough to fill Wembley Stadium 32 times over) are not recovered after use every single year, presenting a significant environmental burden. Despite their importance to society and the global economy, and in contrast to the intense recent focus on the sustainability of plastics, there has been very little coordinated effort to address the sustainability of PLFs. There is a clear requirement and demand to make these vital ingredients more environmentally friendly; could they be developed from renewable resources and could they be biodegradable after their use? This is the key focus of our Prosperity Partnership. Croda is a global leader in high performance ingredients and technologies in some of the biggest, most successful brands in the world across a wide range of markets including Personal Care, Crop Care and Pharma. The company is committed to be Climate, Land and People positive by 2030 and in doing so be the most sustainable supplier of innovative ingredients. This ambition is driving the company to utilise greater proportions of bio-based feedstocks, transform them into performance ingredients through the most energy efficient processes and consider the end-of-life impacts of the materials generated. PLFs form a significant part of Croda's product portfolio and to ensure that this group of materials is economically and environmentally sustainable in the future, new approaches to PLF chemistry, production and end-of-life fate are required. To make a significant step change to this area of research, advancing knowledge, technical innovation and speed is critical. Croda has decided to join forces and build on the existing strong relationship with both the University of Nottingham and the University of York to catalyse the changes required, using joint expertise to accelerate innovation. Our Prosperity Partnership will be the catalyst in bringing together the best teams in terms of location, approach and above all scientific fit to meet Croda's current and future challenges. Collaboratively we will be addressing the challenge of developing novel biobased and biodegradable materials for PLF applications, offering equivalent performance benefits to existing synthetic polymers. On this journey we will need to build knowledge about how structural changes in molecular architecture influence biodegradability and end use performance, alongside developing an understanding of how this is exploited to optimise design and development of target polymers. The products generated will contribute to Croda's sustainable innovation targets, will support Croda's move to Net Zero manufacture, whilst also building UK expertise in this important area. For Croda's customers these ingredients will allow them to reduce their own carbon footprint, comply with future regulations and make significant advances towards their own sustainability goals.Co-creation and sharing of information between the partners will be fundamental to this approach, giving the opportunity to tap into green chemistry and polymer expertise from the Universities and add that to Croda's unrivalled understanding of product performance and market requirements. This Prosperity Partnership will give us continuity of partnerships, resource and talent to provide the critical mass required to tackle this major problem that is affecting our society right now, as we address the sustainability challenges of this essential group of ingredients.

液体配方聚合物 (PLF) 是一类广泛的聚合物，在许多日常用品（包括家用洗涤剂、化妆品和农用化学品）中用作增稠剂、乳化剂和粘合剂。这些聚合物绝大多数来自化石燃料来源，并且它们不会在环境中降解。英国皇家化学学会最近的一份报告估计，每年有超过 3600 万吨这些成分（足以填满温布利体育场 32 倍）在使用后没有被回收，造成了巨大的环境负担。尽管它们对社会和全球经济很重要，并且与最近对塑料可持续性的强烈关注相反，但在解决 PLF 的可持续性方面几乎没有协调一致的努力。有明确的要求和要求，使这些重要成分更加环保；它们可以用可再生资源开发吗？使用后可以生物降解吗？这是我们繁荣伙伴关系的重点。禾大 (Croda) 是高性能成分和技术的全球领导者，其产品涉及个人护理、作物护理和制药等广泛市场中一些全球最大、最成功的品牌。该公司致力于到 2030 年对气候、土地和人类产生积极影响，并以此成为最可持续的创新成分供应商。这一雄心促使该公司利用更大比例的生物基原料，通过最节能的工艺将其转化为高性能成分，并考虑所产生材料的报废影响。 PLF 是 Croda 产品组合的重要组成部分，为了确保这组材料在未来经济和环境上可持续，需要新的 PLF 化学、生产和报废处理方法。为了使这一研究领域发生重大变化，推进知识、技术创新和速度至关重要。 Croda 决定联手并建立与诺丁汉大学和约克大学现有的牢固关系，以促进所需的变革，利用联合专业知识加速创新。我们的繁荣合作伙伴关系将成为催化剂，将在地点、方法以及最重要的科学适应性方面最优秀的团队聚集在一起，以应对禾大当前和未来的挑战。我们将共同应对为 PLF 应用开发新型生物基和可生物降解材料的挑战，提供与现有合成聚合物同等的性能优势。在此过程中，我们需要了解分子结构的结构变化如何影响生物降解性和最终使用性能，同时了解如何利用这种变化来优化目标聚合物的设计和开发。产生的产品将有助于 Croda 的可持续创新目标，支持 Croda 向净零制造迈进，同时也在这一重要领域建立英国的专业知识。对于 Croda 的客户来说，这些成分将使他们能够减少自己的碳足迹，遵守未来的法规，并在实现自己的可持续发展目标方面取得重大进展。合作伙伴之间的共同创造和信息共享将是这种方法的基础，使他们有机会利用大学的绿色化学和聚合物专业知识，并将其添加到 Croda 对产品性能和市场需求的无与伦比的理解中。这种繁荣伙伴关系将为我们提供持续的伙伴关系、资源和人才，以提供解决目前影响我们社会的这一重大问题所需的关键力量，同时我们应对这一组重要成分的可持续性挑战。