TECHNOLOGY
Low cost and versatile monomers from biomass
Our patented technologies focus on the biosynthesis and utilization of beta methyl valerolactone (Nuvone). Beta methyl valerolactone (Nuvone) can be produced in a highly efficient manner from a variety of sugar resources through fermentation processes. The monomer can be isolated in high purity for subsequent polymerization chemistry. The polymers produced have tunable properties that are competitive with commercial, petroleum-based analogs. Moreover, the product polymers can be chemically recycled or degraded in the environment to simple hydroxy acids.
The publications below describe key advances since our original discovery.
Scalable Production of Mechanically Tunable Block Polymers from Sugar
Xiong M, Schneiderman DK, Bates FS, Hillmyer MA, Zhang K, PNAS 2014, 111, p 8357 – 8362.
Chemically Recyclable Biobased Polyurethanes
Schneiderman DK, Vanderlaan ME, Mannion AM, Panthani TR, Batiste DC, Wang JZ, Bates FS, Macosko CW, Hillmyer MA, ACS Macro Letters 2016, 5, p 515 – 518.
Renewable, Degradable, and Chemically Recyclable Cross-Linked Elastomers
Brutman JP, DeHoe GX, Schneiderman DK, Le TN, Hillmyer MA, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry 2016, 55, p 11097 – 11106.
Aliphatic Polyester Block Polymer Design
Schneiderman DK, Hillmyer MA, Macromolecules 2016, 49, p 2419 – 2428.