Next-generation biopolymers: Advanced functionality and improved sustainability
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Introduction The worldwide production of plastics reached 260 billion lb/yr at the end of the 20th century, with a global value in excess of a trillion dollars and over $310 billion to the U.S. economy alone.1 Large quantities of petroleum are used to produce plastics, but oil is of finite supply; as world economies develop, it will become more and more expensive.2 Additionally, pollution results from the manufacture, use, and disposal of plastic materials. Emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) are of increasing concern due to issues relating to global climate change. As the world’s light petroleum reserves are depleted, and as China, India, and other developing economies industrialize and drive demand, oil prices have shown great volatility. This same volatility is manifested in the prices of petroleum-derived plastics. Moreover, as the oil spill in the environmentally sensitive Gulf of Mexico demonstrates, drilling under challenging conditions such as deep water poses real risks, both environmental and financial. Simultaneously, lower-grade “heavy” crude oils, such as the Canadian oil sands, are being increasingly utilized; these
carbon sources are less economical and potentially even more environmentally deleterious than off-shore drilling. However, plastics offer profound societal benefits, including increased agricultural production, reduced food spoilage, reduced fuel consumption in lighter-weight vehicles, better health care, and low-cost net shape manufacturing. Plastic materials are an indispensible part of modern societies, but the crisis consumers are faced with in the energy arena is also sharply impacting the plastics industries. What will happen to our environment, to human and animal health, and to the plastics industries— the fourth largest manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy, employing more than 1.2 million citizens1—if sustainable technologies are not developed and deployed? Producing “green” polymers and composites has been a goal for some time, but significant technical and economic problems have kept this approach from being pursued on a large scale.3 While there is clearly a need to develop bioplastics and biocomposites, the materials must be competitive on a priceperformance basis. In the past, renewably based plastics were
P.J. Halley, AIBN, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia; [email protected] John R. Dorgan, Chemical Engineering Department, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, USA; [email protected] DOI: 10.1557/mrs.2011.180
© 2011 Materials Research Society
MRS BULLETIN • VOLUME 36 • SEPTEMBER 2011 • www.mrs.org/bulletin
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NEXT-GENERATION BIOPOLYMERS: ADVANCED FUNCTIONALITY AND IMPROVED SUSTAINABILITY
either too expensive or they simply lacked the properties required for many applications. Recently, commercial successes in new bioplastics have emerged, and these advancements are reflective of a larger trend toward the successful application of industrial biotechnology. Examples include the commercialization of polylactides (PLA) for compost bags
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