Biodegradable "Fiberglass" for Packing Industry
Patents for licensing
Never miss an update from Yeda
Create your free account to connect with Yeda and thousands of other innovative organizations and professionals worldwide
Technology Offer
Biodegradable "Fiberglass" for Packing Industry
- Yeda
- From Israel
- Responsive
- Patents for licensing
Summary of the technology
Conventional plastics are materials with attractive properties but with low recyclability. They also persist in the environment. Furthermore, the plastic waste decomposes into microplastic, which pollutes the soil, the sea, and the air. Therefore new regulations restrict its use. The existing biodegradable materials suffer from inferior mechanical properties (such as starch) or low degradability that needs to be enhanced (e.g., PLA). Prof. Rybtchinski and his group designed a biodegradable "fiberglass" composed of Nano-crystalline fibers and a biodegradable polymer. Both components are highly biodegradable, and the resulting composite material has properties akin to or better than known packaging plastics (which constitute 39% of all produced plastics).
The Need
Although plastics have superior properties, they are poorly recycled (~8%) due to a dramatic reduction of their properties in each recycle step. Plastic waste pollutes our soil, freshwater resources, atmosphere, and seas. As a prevention action, in the last few years, new regulations have been restricting the use of plastics to encourage alternatives such as reusable plastics or materials which decompose into biofriendly compounds by microorganisms (biodegradable materials). The main challenge of biodegradable materials is achieving regular plastics' mechanical properties while achieving high biodegradability.
The Solution
A fiberglass-like composite material was prepared out of Nano-crystals (the fibers) and a polymer, which are both highly biodegradable. This material has comparable properties to the commonly used packaging plastics; it exhibits including a high modulus (1000 MPa), tensile strength (70 MPa), elongation (55%), and toughness (25 MPa).
Technology Essence
Both Nano-crystals and the biocompatible polymer are cheap products that can be manufactured from bioresources on a large scale. The Nano-crystals are used for reinforcement of the polymer.
Applications and Advantages
Applications
Biodegradable Packaging
Advantages
- Highly biodegradable (fast degradation in soil)
Very cheap components
- Non-Toxic ingredients and product
Simple to process
- Development Status
- Initial prototypes demonstrated—scaling-up in progress.
Market Opportunity
This biodegradable "fiberglass" can be used for the packaging industry (39% of all plastics) due to its inexpensiveness and mechanical properties.
SEM images of the composite:
Related Keywords
About Yeda
Yeda ("Knowledge" in Hebrew) Research and Development Company Ltd. is the commercial arm of the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS) and is the second company of its kind established in the world.
WIS is one of the world’s leading multidisciplinary basic research institutions in the natural and exact sciences. It is located in Rehovot, Israel, just south of Tel Aviv. It was initially established as the Daniel Sieff Institute in 1934, by Israel and Rebecca Sieff of London in memory of their son Daniel. In 1949, it was renamed for Dr. Chaim Weizmann, the first President of the State of Israel and Founder of the Institute.
Yeda initiates and promotes the transfer to the global marketplace of research findings and innovative technologies developed by WIS scientists. Yeda holds an exclusive agreement with WIS to market and commercialize its intellectual property and generate income to support further research and education.
Since 1959 Yeda has generated the highest income per researcher compared to any other TTO worldwide. Weizmann has generated a number of groundbreaking therapies, such as Copaxone, Rebif, Tookad, Erbitux, Vectibix, Protrazza, Humira, and recently the CAR-T cancer therapy Yescarta.
Yeda performs the following activities:
◣ Identifies and assesses research projects with commercial potential.
◣ Protects the intellectual property of WIS and its scientists.
◣ Licenses WIS' inventions and technologies to industry.
◣ Establishes new Startup companies based in WIS Intellectual Property
◣ Channels funding from industry to research projects.
Our portfolio covers a broad spectrum of the natural sciences, including:
◣ Agriculture and Plant Genetics, including Bio-fuels
◣ Chemistry and Nanotechnology
◣ Environmental Sciences and Solar Energy
◣ Mathematics and Computer Science
◣ Medical Devices
◣ Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics
◣ Physics and Electro-Optics
◣ Research Tools
Related Technology Offers
Send a request for information
to Yeda
About Technology Offers
Technology Offers on Innoget are directly posted
and managed by its members as well as evaluation of requests for information. Innoget is the trusted open innovation and science network aimed at directly connect industry needs with professionals online.
Help
Need help requesting additional information or have questions regarding this Technology Offer?
Contact Innoget support
