The problems posed by plastics to disposal in landfills and their accumulation in oceans are widely recognized. Yet, plastics are useful materials that provide vital functions in transportation, packaging, construction and medicine. Industry and society would benefit greatly from alternatives to conventional virgin plastics that are derived from re-use or recycling. Yet, mechanical recycling has significant limitations, particularly in the realm of flexible food packaging. One solution is the development of more sustainable compostable or recyclable plastics derived from renewable resources that could be chemically recycled into useful chemicals rather than landfilled. Alternatively, renewably-sourced plastics that can actually be composted under realistic conditions would also be attractive. Such materials could enable circular manufacturing, use and disposal that avoids environmental accumulation, just as many naturally-synthesized materials do. Cellulose and chitin are the first- and second-most abundant naturally-occurring biopolymers, respectively, with annual natural production estimated to be 1011-1012 tons per year (cellulose) and 1010 - 1012 tons per year (chitin). Cellulose is sourced from plants and chitin is produced by crustaceans, insects and fungi. In their native nanofibrillar format, these are semicrystalline materials that provide barrier and mechanical properties that suggest usage in packaging materials. This talk will highlight our recent work in developing plant- and food-waste as enabling materials for food packaging. The talk will emphasize high-performance cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and chitin nanofibers (ChNFs), and recent work in isolating, modifying and coating them as sustainable O2 barrier materials for food and pharmaceutical packaging, along with possibilities for flexible organic electronic and electrochromic devices.

Plastic alternatives based on cellulose and chitin: Circular platform

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.