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Abstract Non‐biodegradable petroleum‐based plastic wastes have become a leading environmental concern, and new efforts are underway to prepare biobased and biodegradable replacements. We have explored the preparation of adhesives suitable for use in consumer products, and here we report the development of waterborne, biodegradable adhesives from biobased monomers resulting in adhesives exceeding 70% biocontent. Using water as the polymer medium, viscosity challenges and the use of volatile organic solvents are avoided. Material properties of the polyurethane dispersions, resulting films, and laminates produced showed Mwranging between 56,000 and 124,000. Lastly, the biodegradability of films and laminates was evaluated. The resulting metrics indicate that the adhesives produced meet the desired mechanical and biodegradability targets, indicating that high renewability content solvent‐free polyurethane dispersions are a viable solution for lamination adhesives.
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Water-processable, biodegradable and coatable aquaplastic from engineered biofilms
Petrochemical-based plastics have not only contaminated all parts of the globe, but are also causing potentially irreversible damage to our ecosystem because of their non-biodegradability. As bioplastics are limited in number, there is an urgent need to design and develop more biodegradable alternatives to mitigate the plastic menace. In this regard, we report aquaplastic, a new class of microbial biofilm-based biodegradable bioplastic that is water-processable, robust, templatable and coatable. Here, Escherichia coli was genetically engineered to produce protein-based hydrogels, which are cast and dried under ambient conditions to produce aquaplastic, which can withstand strong acid/base and organic solvents. In addition, aquaplastic can be healed and welded to form three-dimensional architectures using water. The combination of straightforward microbial fabrication, water processability and biodegradability makes aquaplastic a unique material worthy of further exploration for packaging and coating applications.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2004875
- PAR ID:
- 10226121
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Nature Chemical Biology
- ISSN:
- 1552-4450
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-021-00773-y
