CIRCULAR ECONOMY PROTECTIVE WRAP

OBJECTIVE

The goal of this project is to develop a novel biopolymer, that works as plastic film for heavy-duty industries and is biodegradable in natural conditions. The material has to be based on a globally abundant feedstock and fit in an existent manufacturing process. This will allow the material to rapidly scale up, contrary to other biopolymers based on scarce raw materials (e.g. algae or fungus). Furthermore, the material has to have a minimum tensile strength of 2 MPa and a Young Modulus of 0.116 GPa to be comparable to industry standards.

The immediate application of the material is heavy-duty industries that require plastic films for packaging and protection (e.g. construction, lumber, manufacturing, etc.)

In order to evaluate the material performance, it was subjected to the following tests:

• ASTM D882 to obtain tensile strength and young module.
• Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) to obtain the biopolymer chemical structure and prove its degradability.

TECHNICAL DETAILS

We developed Woodpack, a biopolymer with applications as a heavy-duty plastic film for protection. The material has a performance that is equivalent to industry standards (e.g. tarps) but keeps its feedstock’s chemical properties, making it biodegradable in natural conditions

My main contribution focused mostly on materials characterization and evaluation for the massive manufacturing processes, in which we are currently working. Through the scope of the project, I also worked in the formulation of the material. Taking into account the key trade-off:

• The relationship between the percentage of natural fibers that composed the materials.
• The mechanical performance (elasticity and tenacity).
• The shrinkage during the drying stage of the manufacturing process.

Actually, I have been focusing on the company building and project management for the next steps, scaling Woodpacks production from a lab-based process into an industrial process.

RESULTS

My work with Woodpack has been selected for the following MIT Entrepreneurship programs: MIT Sandbox (where it was featured in the projects showcase), The Engine Blueprint, DesignX, and ICorps Fusion and Spark.

Woodpack v/s current industry standard (i.e. Woven Polytarp):

Parameter	Woodpack	Woven Polytarp
Tensile Strength	13 Mpa	2 Mpa
Elasticity Modulus	0.116 GPa	0.11 - 0.45 GPa
Outdoor lifespan	0.5 years	0.5 - 5 years
Degradation	>12 weeks	Never