Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
While research on petroleum-based materials has been going strong for nearly a century, the development of high-performance materials derived from biomass has been largely neglected. Acrylic polymers are used extensively in the coatings industry, however, there are no commercially available biobased acrylic analogues to support the formulation of biobased acrylic coatings. Acrylic polymers are important to the coatings industry because they tend to have better hardness, chemical resistance, and moisture resistance than other polymers that can currently be synthesized from biobased materials. Although the need for sustainable biobased coatings is high, industry is accustomed to the excellent physical properties of petroleum-based coatings and is unwilling to take a step back in performance. Also, while customers continue to request biobased coatings, few have demonstrated an intent to pay a premium for these products which makes it difficult to convince business leaders to invest in the requisite research to tackle the more challenging polymers such as acrylics. For these reasons, funding for research on high-performing, biobased acrylics is critical to provide the advanced materials required to drive biobased coatings implementation. PPG Industries has developed a method to synthesize new, high-performance, biobased polymers using an environmentally-friendly process. Preliminary test data derived from experimental coatings using these polymers have shown them to be better at dispersing pigments in waterborne coatings than corresponding petroleum-based polymers. It is the goal of PPG to synthesize novel, biobased acrylic polymers that have excellent pigment dispersion properties using our green reaction method, and for North Dakota State University to evaluate these resins utilizing their high-throughput formulation and coating testing techniques. Since high-throughput methods are being employed, the program will provide extensive data to fully understand the best biobased materials and reaction conditions needed to obtain the best coating properties. A life cycle analysis will be conducted on a model dispersion to ensure the new material is beneficial to the environment as compared to a petroleum-based control. The successful completion of the proposed program will provide a prototype polymer that can be customized to deliver green biobased coatings to end markets as diverse as automotive primers, consumer electronics basecoats, and architectual house paints. The spread of these coatings into the market will provide a value-added market for agricultural and forestry materials, reduce dependence on foreign oil, and conserve energy by utilizing energy efficient production methods.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
50%
Developmental
50%
Goals / Objectives
The overall goal of this program is to synthesize novel, environmentally-beneficial, biobased acrylic polymers that have excellent pigment dispersion properties for waterborne coatings applications. This overall goal can be broken down into intermediate goals. The first task will lead to understanding the effect that synthesis variables such as monomer composition and reactor conditions have on the resulting copolymer biocontent and monomer conversion. The outputs of this first task are a range of characterized biobased resins and a report. The second goal is determining the ability of approximately 15 of the best resins to disperse pigments. The biobased resins will be compared against known petroleum-based resins that provide good pigment dispersions. The outputs of this task are up to sixty dispersions and a report explaining which resins were selected or rejected. The third goal is generating approximately 400 unique, cured films from these new dispersions to be evaluated in the fourth task with the goal of determining first-tier structure/property relationships of the new resins using high throughput testing methodology. The outcome of this task is a full report including data generated to date, analysis of data, and conclusions to date. Once this iterative process of synthesis and formulation is conducted, a detailed understanding of the mechanisms by which biobased monomers can be reacted free-radically and the coatings properties that result will be obtained. A model resin will be selected from the developed candidates and a BEES life cycle analysis (LCA) of the novel resin as compared to a petroleum benchmark will be conducted to attain the fifth intermediate goal: determining environmental impact of the new dispersions. This LCA will ensure that the low-VOC, bio-based coating is indeed more environmentally friendly than its petroleum-based counterpart. The output of the LCA analysis will be an LCA report on the material, data to back environmentally-friendly claims, and an understanding of the gaps between what is currently offered and what is needed to offer more environmentally options. The final output of this program is a full report which captures all data and analysis developed under the program.
Project Methods
This program has been logically organized to systematically and efficiently develop acrylic-type biobased resins for the coatings industry. A two-phase, 18 month program is proposed. The first phase lasts one year and focuses on the synthesis and characterization of quality biobased polymers utilizing a variety of candidate biobased monomers along with the dispersion and high level coatings properties of the new resins. While the target polymer type of this proposal is specific, the monomer selection is wide to allow for a thorough understanding of what is possible, and the end function of the resin is broad to allow for widespread use. The use of a new, green reaction method enables the conversion of unsaturated bio-based monomers into standard acrylic-type resins cost effectively and on an industrial scale; while the use of high throughput synthesis, formulation, and testing equipment will accelerate program results and provide extensive data with minimal research time. PPG's facilities employ Six Sigma methodologies and experimental design techniques to ensure delivery of high quality, consistent products and services. Six Sigma methodologies are a collection of statistical tools used to maintain quality control, discern experimental signals from noisy data and identify interactions between multiple factors in an experiment. Collectively these tools enable analysis of large volumes of data and generation of predictive models. Some of the tools commonly employed by PPG researchers that are relevant to this program include: Experimental Design, Multiple Regression, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and Statistical Process Control. Phase II lasts six months and focuses on conducting a life cycle analysis (LCA) of the dispersion developed in Phase I according to the Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability model. Inputs to the LCA will include raw materials, processing aids, and energy for both biobased and non-biobased dispersion formulations. This information will be used to develop a life cycle inventory (mass balance) using SimaPro 7 software which includes U.S. and European databases on a wide variety of materials and energy sources. In addition to the life cycle inventory, 12 environmental impact factors will be determined. The sum of these factors is the total environmental impact score which can be directly compared to environmental impact scores for other materials. The results of this program will be used as a foundation for further customized resins and coatings product development. The publication of related patents and ultimate commercial sales of products based on this research will illustrate the viability of biobased materials for high performance end uses to the general community. The successful commercialization of the envisioned products will demonstrate that biobased products can successfully help companies meet not only environmental goals, but also performance and economic goals.