Location: Plant Polymer Research
2024 Annual Report
Objectives
Objective 1. Enable new food-contact active packaging and coating materials through selective chemical modification and novel processing techniques.
The focus of Objective 1 is to design new food packaging materials from biobased and renewable-sourced polymers using novel physical processes and chemical modifications. The products will protect and enhance food products, eliminate or reduce pathogens, address antimicrobial resistance, extend shelf-life, and reduce food waste and food poisoning incidents.
Objective 2. Enable commercialization of new agro-based value-added green products and processes.
Objective 2 utilizes renewably sourced polymers, polymer blends, modified polysaccharides, and bio-oils to provide high-value products using state-of-the-art chemical and physical techniques, such as microwave processing, reaction chemistry and separations in ionic liquid and deep eutectic solvents, reactive extrusion, electrospinning, electrospraying, and nanotechnology. Through Objective 2, we envision the development of new or improved biopolymers made from agro-based raw materials targeted for plastic replacements (biodegradable polymers and plasticizers), adhesives (melt and pressure sensitive), personal care and cosmetics (dispersants, emulsifiers, bioactive agents), biobased phase change materials for thermal insulation, energy storage and conservation, and specialty materials (coatings, thickeners, adsorbents, metal ion sequestrants, flocculants, and catalyst supports).
Moreover, this project will yield modified industrial and commercial processing methods that will increase the efficiency and lower the cost for replacement of similar non-renewable polymer products. Polymeric materials from renewable resources will provide environmental benefits over materials currently in use. New fundamental knowledge of the interactions of plant-based carbohydrates with additives and polymers will provide the basis for a rational design of novel agro-based materials with targeted properties. See Appendix 1A for a flow diagram of the project.
Approach
The main outcome of this project is to develop environmentally friendly green processes and products by adopting circular bio-economy strategies. The first objective is to design new food packaging materials from biobased and renewable-sourced polymers using novel physical processes and chemical modifications. These packaging materials are intended to protect and enhance food products, promote food safety, eliminate or reduce pathogens, extend shelf-life, address antimicrobial resistance, reduce food waste and lead to greater availability of food to human, animal, and plant life. Active packaging materials will reduce the number of pathogens in food and food products through controlled release mechanisms. The second objective utilizes agro-based polymers, polymer blends, modified polysaccharides, and triglycerides (including sorghum and hemp oils) to develop high-value products using state-of-the-art chemical and physical techniques, such as microwave processing, ionic liquid and deep eutectic solvent reactions and separations, reactive extrusion, electrospinning, electrospraying, and nanotechnology. Overall, the project will develop agro-based polymer products that have new or improved properties at lower cost, have reduced environmental footprint, and are responsive to evolving consumer markets. The project will also generate innovative technologies, thereby enabling new market opportunities for agricultural products to replace polymeric materials based on non-renewable resources. This research will widen the application boundaries of agriculture, thereby increasing the demand, value, and utility of agricultural commodities.
Progress Report
Approximately 90% of chemicals and polymers produced globally are derived from fossil resources. Since fossil resources, such as oil and natural gas, are finite, there is a major need for technology that enables commercially viable chemicals and materials from biomass. Plants provide many unique compounds that cannot be easily and cost-effectively produced from today's petrochemical industry. As society transitions from a fossil resource-based economy to a circular bio-based economy, material technology that takes advantage of the natural compounds derived from plant biomass is critical.
Eugenol is a naturally occurring compound that is usually found in variety of herbal plants such as clove, tulsi, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pepper, but is mainly isolated from clove buds and is not prevalent enough from this natural source. Therefore, recent research involving a variety of processes to obtain chemicals from a highly abundant, low cost plant-based polymer called lignin, has shown that eugenol could potentially be produced at high volume from this natural resource. Lignin is the 2nd most abundant material on the planet and essentially a waste product from paper making. Thus, the ability to obtain eugenol from lignin could enable this highly desirable natural compound to be produced at a high volume and low cost, which would be very important for the future chemical and materials industries. Because of the unique chemical structure of eugenol, new resins and polymers for a wide variety of industrial applications such as paints and coatings, adhesives, composites, and plastics are possible using simple, commodity-scale chemical processes.
In support of Objective 2 (Sub-objective 2B), ARS researchers in Peoria, Illinois, developed a solvent-free chemical process that provided a unique organogel from eugenol. Organogels are useful for a variety of high-value applications such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, biotechnologies, and food technology. Considering the high- value applications for organogels, it is expected that eugenol currently obtained from clove buds would be cost- effective for these applications. Nonetheless, the ability to obtain eugenol from lignin, would further reduce cost and increase availability.
In additional support of Objective 2 (Sub-objectives 2A and 2B), new technology was developed that has enabled new resins for coating, adhesive, and packaging applications, based on eugenol. New coating resins were developed for one-component paints and coatings that have the potential to outperform commercial oil-based coatings currently used for many consumer and industrial applications. In addition, some of these new resins have the chemical and physical properties to be use as new biobased or partially biobased adhesives. Finally, a fully biobased resin derived from eugenol was produced that is expected to be biodegradable and capable of improving the performance of food packing materials by inhibiting oxygen from the air reaching the food.
In further support of Objective 2 (Sub-objective 2B), ARS researchers in Peoria, Illinois, have also developed a solvent-free process that utilizes carbon dioxide to convert eugenol to a unique polymer that may be used directly or through chemical modification for a variety of applications, such as paints and coatings, adhesives, composites, and personal-care applications. Overall, the utilization of eugenol for these higher value applications will mean more value for lignin, which is currently considered a waste product that is highly abundant in most all plants and a major component of agricultural and forestry waste.
Accomplishments
1. Developed biodegradable films for food packaging. ARS researchers in Peoria, Illinois have developed a new biodegradable plastic film for food packaging to reduce plastic waste and microplastics in the environment. The films are made by blending carboxymethyl cellulose and cotton seed meal. Cotton seed meal is an inexpensive raw material from cotton manufacturing that is plant-based, biodegradable and sustainable. The films were produced as very thin single-layer films. Possible uses for these films include water-soluble packaging and coatings, dissolvable bags and pouches for detergents and farm chemicals. These films could be a replacement for pollutant plastics made from petroleum and provide added value to the cotton industry.
Review Publications
Castro, R., Monte, R.S., Mendes, L.G., Furtado, R.F., Silva, A., Biswas, A., Cheng, H.N., Alves, C.R. 2016. Electrosynthesis and characterization of polypyrrole/cashew gum composite grown on gold surface in aqueous medium. International Journal of Electrochemical Science. 12:50-61. https://doi.org/10.20964/2017.01.16.
Cheng, H.N., Qinglin, W., He, Z., Klasson, K.T., Jordan, J.H., Easson, M.W., Biswas, A. 2023. Sustainable green polymers with agro-based nanomaterials: A selected review. Cheng, H.N., Gross, R.A., editors. Sustainable green chemistry in polymer research. Volume 2. Sustainable polymers and applications. ACS Symposium Series, Vol. 1451. Washington, DC: American Chemical Society. p. 277-288. https://doi.org/10.1021/bk-2023-1451.
Cheng, H.N., Biswas, A., Kuzniar, G., Kim, S., Liu, Z., He, Z. 2024. Blends of carboxymethyl cellulose and cottonseed protein as biodegradable films. Polymers. 16(11). Article 1554. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16111554.
Liu, Z., Shah, S.N., Vermillion, K., Cheng, H.N., Biswas, A. 2023. Lewis acid catalyzed cis (liquid) to trans (solid) isomerization of Jojoba oil in supercritical CO2. Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology. 54. Article 102902. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bcab.2023.102902.
Cheng, H.N., Biswas, A., Furtado, R., Alves, C. 2023. Hydrophobic modification of agro-based polymers: A selected review. In: Cheng, H.N, Gross, R.A., editors. Sustainable Green Chemistry in Polymer Research. Volume 1. Biocatalysis and Biobased Materials. ACS Symposium Series. 1450: 249-258. https://doi.org/10.1021/bk-2023-1450.ch015.
Grumi, M., Prieto, C., Furtado, R.F., Cheng, H.N., Biswas, A., Limbo, S., Cabedo, L., Lagaron, J.M. 2024. On the unique morphology and elastic properties of multi-jet electrospun cashew gum-based fiber mats. Polymers. 16. Article 1355. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16101355.
Cheng, H.N., Asakura, T., Suganuma, K., Lagaron, J.M., Melendez-Rodriguez,, B., Biswas, A. 2024. NMR analyses and statistical modeling of biobased polymer microstructures – A selected review. Polymers. 16. Article 620. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16050620.
Pournaki, S.K., Hall, C., Biswas, A. 2024. Effects of storage conditions on chemistry and functional properties of different varieties of chickpea. Journal of Agriculture and Food Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafr.2024.101066.