Recipient Organization
ECOVERSION, LLC
3005 N. SYCAMORE
HEALY,KS 67850
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
In the United States, annual demand for adhesives and resins exceeds 20 billion pounds. Currently, most adhesives used in the wood industry are petroleum-based, such as phenol-formaldehyde and urea-formaldehyde adhesives. Formaldehyde emissions cause many environmental and health issues. Development of biobased adhesives not only significantly impact a >$100 billion industry sector, but also solve the environmental issues related to volatile organic compounds (VOC) emission and reduce our relying on petroleum-based feedstocks with carbon reduction benefits. Currently, numbers of leading industries are seeking environmental friendly adhesives; however, the major challenge to their switching from petroleum-based to biobased feedstocks is the high cost of biobased feedstocks and enabling technologies to meet their requirements. The sorghum protein adhesives using low cost feedstocks will allow industry to initiate commercialization of the technology developed from this research.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The long term goal of this proposed SBIR research is to develop affordable, durable, and biodegradable protein adhesives using low-cost sorghum DDGS to reduce VOC emmision and reduce reliance on fossil feedstocks. The short-term goal is to establish the feasibility of an innovative technology to produce affordable and durable biobased protein adhesives using low-cost sorghum DDGS, which have great potential to replace petroleum-based polymers such as formaldehyde-based adhesives. The research will focus on (1)development of innovative technology for extraction of proteins from sorghum DDGS;(2) characterization of physical, chemical, and structural properties of sorghum proteins from DDGS; and (3) evaluation of adhesive performance of sorghum protein and improve sorghum protein adhesion by chemical modification. Success in the research program will result in a low-cost technology to produce affordable and durable biobased adhesive using low-cost DDGS.
Project Methods
The overall goal of the Phase I research program is to establish feasibility of an innovative technology to produce an affordable and durable biobased protein adhesive using low-cost sorghum protein from DDGS, which has great potential to replace petroleum-based polymers such as formaldehyde adhesives. The proposed objectives are as follows: Objective 1: Develop innovative technology for extraction of proteins from sorghum DDGS with high yield, purity, and desirable functionality for industrial uses. Task 1.1 Extraction of proteins using acetic acids. Task 1.2 Extraction of proteins using hydrochloric acid. Task 1.3 Extraction of proteins using traditional methods. Objective 2: Characterize physical, chemical,and structural properties of sorghum proteins from DDGS. Task 2.1 Physical properties including surface hydrophobicity, contact angle,and rheological and thermal properties of sorghum protein DDGS. Task 2.2 Chemical properties including protein profile cross-link density, and entanglements of sorghum protein from DDGS. Task 2.3 Morphological properties of sorghum protein from DDGS. Objective 3: Evaluate adhesion performance of sorghum protein and improve sorghum protein adhesion by chemical modification. Task 3.1 Evaluate adhesion performance of sorghum protein from DDGS Task 3.2 Improve sorghum protein adhesion by chemical modification.