Glucaric Acid
Glucuronic Acid
This article first appeared on Plastics News.
A research team at North Carolina State University says biobased glucaric-acid or lignin additives can dramatically increase the toughness of polyvinyl alcohol fibers.
As a new anti-plasticizer, the additive can nearly triple the resin's tensile strength and double its modulus, and the enhanced PVA fibers can find uses in biofriendly products such as fibers and polymers, detergents, paints and diapers.
Petrol and biochemical plasticizers are added to poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) to improve its processability while tuning its moisture sensitivity. But those additives often reduce the mechanical performance of PVA products. In this study, the antiplasticization and properties of PVA containing additives from biorenewable sources are studied.
"One of the greatest challenges dealing with technology this early in the supply chain is that it often requires you to re-think how you might operate throughout the value chain."
Our world demands more materials and polymers to respect the environment and transfer the billions spent on our oil based industries to renewable sources. The challenge arises when striking the balance between these desires and the practicalities of paying more for renewable substitutes. This means that more chemical companies are refining their production processes and the strategies they use to become more competitive on price.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that 38 small businesses will collaborate with national lab researchers through the Small Business Vouchers (SBV) pilot, including four that will work with Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (Berkeley Lab) in the areas of bioenergy and advanced manufacturing.
The innovative SBV pilot facilitates access to the DOE national labs for U.S. small businesses, enabling them to tap into the intellectual and technical resources they need to overcome critical technology challenges for their advanced energy products and gain a global competitive advantage.
Eight DOE national laboratories will receive funding to partner with 38 competitively selected small businesses across the country.
MILTON, Mass. and WILMINGTON, Mass., March 4, 2016 — The Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry, LLC (WBI) and Kalion, Inc. (Kalion) announce their collaboration to create and develop prototypes for a wide array of novel technologies derived from glucaric acid.
Volume I: Results of Screening for Potential Candidates from Sugars and Synthesis Gas
This report identifies twelve building block chemicals that can be produced from sugars via biological or chemical conversions. The twelve building blocks can be subsequently converted to a number of high-value bio-based chemicals or materials.
Building block chemicals, as considered for this analysis, are molecules with multiple functional groups that possess the potential to be transformed into new families of useful molecules.
The twelve sugar-based building blocks are 1,4-diacids (succinic, fumaric and malic), 2,5-furan dicarboxylic acid, 3-hydroxy propionic acid, aspartic acid, glucaric acid, glutamic acid, itaconic acid, levulinic acid, 3-hydroxybutyrolactone, glycerol, sorbitol, and xylitol/arabinitol.
