The project team is developing pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs) with high soybean oil content that match or exceed commercial formulations' performance properties. The project's initial year established that such formulations were achievable at the lab scale, meeting or exceeding project KPIs with multiple formulations. We are moving from laboratory synthesis to scalable approaches, eventually leading to commercial vessel batches. We have also included PSAs containing soy-derived components in our fungal biodegradation testing program, and we are exploring the use of soybean hulls as an inexpensive source of additives, such as reinforcing nanoparticles. Furthermore, in collaboration with our industrial partners, we are adapting the developed techniques and monomers to other commercial products.
During the second year of our project, we made significant strides to bring our laboratory discoveries to scalable processes. With our focus on macroemulsion polymerization, we successfully upscaled our PSA formulations, achieving synthesis volumes of up to 2 L, which, according to our industry partners at Franklin International, is a critical benchmark for pilot-scale trials. Introducing methyl-ß-cyclodextrin (MeßCD) as a monomer phase-transfer agent was instrumental in retaining the desired adhesive performance.
Our efforts in biodegradation intensified, and we established the "Biodegradation Screening and Test Facility." Supported by the Department of Defense and the Center for Sustainable Polymers, we project that this facility will be operational by spring 2024, serving as an asset for rapidly identifying microorganisms capable of degrading developed materials.
One of the notable achievements this year was the development of the "Direct" method, a single-step process to extract cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) from raw materials. Through this innovative approach, we streamlined the isolation of CNCs from soybean hulls, marking both efficiency gains and cost reductions. This advancement has led to our endeavors to expand the applications of soy-derived composite materials, particularly in food packaging.
We are pursuing a collaboration with the Natural Resource Research Center (NRRI), which showed a keen interest in the commercial possibilities of our materials. Discussions are underway to access their pilot facilities, which possess the resources necessary to assess the commercial potential of CNCs sourced from soybean hulls.
In summary, our second year saw us transition from laboratory work to scalable PSA development, paving the way for commercial applications, pursuing promising applications with soy-based raw materials, and expanding our collaborations, setting us on a good trajectory for the future of this project.