A Family of New Biobased Polyesters
Bio-based polymers represent a true alternative to the current fossil fuel-based plastics we encounter in our everyday life. However, the current bio-based plastics available on the market oftentimes have multi-step and expensive production processes and their material properties are inferior to currently used plastics. Research performed at Bloom and the EPFL has led to the development of a bio-based and hydrolytically degradable polymer which is based on non-edible sugars, easy to synthesise, and has material properties comparable to established polymers, such as PLA or PET.
Bloom and the school of architecture and engineering of Fribourg (HEIA-FR) have teamed up to tackle the upscaling, optimisation, and process engineering of this polymer in order to allow for the industrialisation of this process.
The Swiss InnoSuisse funding scheme has supported this project with funding for two years, and the research and development activities have started on 1st September 2021. The people involved in this project are:
Romain Aquoise – HEIA-FR and Bloom, engineer responsible for the monomer production and process optimisation
Lucien Blanchard – HEIA-FR, engineer responsible for the polymer production
Philip Scholten – HEIA-FR and Bloom, polymer chemist responsible for research and development activities
Roger Marti – HEIA-FR
Michal Dabros – HEIA-FR