The most heat-resistant bioplastic in the world has been created. It can withstand temperatures up to 740 ° C

The development of new energy-efficient materials using biomass is an important part of creating

sustainable environment.However, currently available bioplastics are mostly aliphatic. They thus have poor thermal stability, which seriously limits their use. Ultimately, plastic, unfortunately, is so popular precisely because of its versatility. It is important that it can withstand certain temperatures (think of plastic food containers, which can be used to heat food, although not very useful). Polymers based on aromatic backbones are widely known for their high thermal stability. But obtaining aromatic heterocyclic monomers from biomass is almost impossible due to the difficulty of controlling their structure.

Two specific aromatic molecules,3-amino-4-hydroxybenzoic acid (AHBA) and 4-aminobenzoic acid (ABA), were obtained from kraft cellulose (inedible raw material) by Professor Onishi and his research group in Tokyo. Recombinant microorganisms selectively increased the productivity of aromatic monomers and inhibited the formation of by-products. Professor Kaneko and his research team at JAIST have chemically converted AHBA into 3,4-diaminobenzoic acid (DABA). Subsequently, it was polymerized to poly (2,5-benzimidazole) - ABPBI - by polycondensation and processed into a heat-resistant film. In addition, the introduction of a very small amount of ABA with DABA dramatically increased the heat resistance of the resulting copolymer and the processed film.

Development strategy for ultra-high temperature resistant cellulose based PBI and PBI / PA films.

JAIST

Organic plastic with excellentthermal stability (over 740 ° C) was developed from inedible biomass raw materials without the use of heavy inorganic fillers. This innovative molecular design of ultra-high temperature-resistant polymers by controlling π-conjugation (or bond pairing) could help eliminate harmful plastics that pollute the environment.

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