Fontys en Avans hebben in de afgelopen twee jaar onder meer laagdrempelige test- en onderzoeksmogelijkheden geboden, bijvoorbeeld in de vorm van afstudeerstages. Daarnaast hebben de beide kennisinstellingen een (regionaal) kennisnetwerk voor het MKB gefaciliteerd dat de mogelijkheid biedt om op nieuwe ontwikkelingen te anticiperen. Het is nu mei 2011 en het project loopt ten einde. In de afgelopen twee jaar is er veel bereikt: bedrijven en onderwijsorganisaties hebben elkaar gevonden, er is veel onderzoek gedaan naar nieuwe toepassingen van biopolymeren, aannames zijn getoetst en in het groeiende netwerk van producenten, leveranciers en consumenten van bioplastics is veel kennis gedeeld en uitgewisseld.
For the future circular economy, renewable carbon feedstocks manifest considerable promise for synthesizing sustainable and biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA). In this study, 16 wt% and 30 wt% PHA (cell dry weight) are respectively produced by thermophilic Caldimonas thermodepolymerans from beechwood xylan and wheat arabinoxylan as the sole carbon source. Moreover, an in silico study of the potential xylan-degrading proteins was conducted using proteome sequencing and CAZyme specialized bioinformatic tools. This study demonstrates the feasibility of utilizing complex polysaccharide substrates for PHA biosynthesis, thereby potentially eliminate additional processing steps and reducing overall production costs for sustainable plastic.
MULTIFILE
Currently, many novel innovative materials and manufacturing methods are developed in order to help businesses for improving their performance, developing new products, and also implement more sustainability into their current processes. For this purpose, additive manufacturing (AM) technology has been very successful in the fabrication of complex shape products, that cannot be manufactured by conventional approaches, and also using novel high-performance materials with more sustainable aspects. The application of bioplastics and biopolymers is growing fast in the 3D printing industry. Since they are good alternatives to petrochemical products that have negative impacts on environments, therefore, many research studies have been exploring and developing new biopolymers and 3D printing techniques for the fabrication of fully biobased products. In particular, 3D printing of smart biopolymers has attracted much attention due to the specific functionalities of the fabricated products. They have a unique ability to recover their original shape from a significant plastic deformation when a particular stimulus, like temperature, is applied. Therefore, the application of smart biopolymers in the 3D printing process gives an additional dimension (time) to this technology, called four-dimensional (4D) printing, and it highlights the promise for further development of 4D printing in the design and fabrication of smart structures and products. This performance in combination with specific complex designs, such as sandwich structures, allows the production of for example impact-resistant, stress-absorber panels, lightweight products for sporting goods, automotive, or many other applications. In this study, an experimental approach will be applied to fabricate a suitable biopolymer with a shape memory behavior and also investigate the impact of design and operational parameters on the functionality of 4D printed sandwich structures, especially, stress absorption rate and shape recovery behavior.
Plastic products are currently been critically reviewed due to the growing awareness on the related problems, such as the “plastic soup”. EU has introduced a ban for a number of single-use consumer products and fossil-based polymers coming in force in 2021. The list of banned products are expected to be extended, for example for single-use, non-compostable plastics in horticulture and agriculture. Therefore, it is crucial to develop sustainable, biodegradable alternatives. A significant amount of research has been performed on biobased polymers. However, plastics are made from a polymer mixed with other materials, additives, which are essential for the plastics production and performance. Development of biodegradable solutions for these additives is lacking, but is urgently needed. Biocarbon (Biochar), is a high-carbon, fine-grained residue that is produced through pyrolysis processes. This natural product is currently used to produce energy, but the recent research indicate that it has a great potential in enhancing biopolymer properties. The biocarbon-biopolymer composite could provide a much needed fully biodegradable solution. This would be especially interesting in agricultural and horticultural applications, since biocarbon has been found to be effective at retaining water and water-soluble nutrients and to increase micro-organism activity in soil. Biocarbon-biocomposite may also be used for other markets, where biodegradability is essential, including packaging and disposable consumer articles. The BioADD consortium consists of 9 industrial partners, a branch organization and 3 research partners. The partner companies form a complementary team, including biomass providers, pyrolysis technology manufacturers and companies producing products to the relevant markets of horticulture, agriculture and packaging. For each of the companies the successful result from the project will lead to concrete business opportunities. The support of Avans, University of Groningen and Eindhoven University of Technology is essential in developing the know-how and the first product development making the innovation possible.
The research for alternatives to substitute cement in concrete increased in the last years to reduce the environmental impact. Geopolymers or alkali-activated materials are one of the options. The proposed project aims to obtain a wet cell based on a geopolymer with alginate and natural fibres. The wet cell will be a final prototype composed of panels for wet construction areas such as bathrooms and kitchens. There is a lack of biobased solutions for wet areas currently in the market. And the present project, together with companies of suppliers and users from the market, aims to provide a solution for a wet cell using biobased materials. The natural fibres added to the geopolymer will substitute a portion of sand and gravel, producing a lighter product than concrete. Also, the fibres increase the thermal and acoustic insulation. Natural fibres should be pretreated to increase the bond with other materials in the mixture. The chemical used in the alkali-activated materials is the same to pretreat the fibres. Also, alginates extracted from seaweeds can be used as binders, and alkali is used in the extraction process. One of the objectives is to develop the method and technique to produce geopolymer with alginates and pretreat the fibre simultaneously during the mixture. After defining the optimum mixture for the geopolymer, panels will be produced, and in the end, a wet cell will be constructed with the geopolymer panels.
