Flavor Scalping of a Bio-based Polymer Predicted by HSP

      

Packing continues to be one of the biggest markets for plastics. But, there are growing environmental concerns due to the origin of petrochemicals and long life-cycles of plastics.

Though recycling has become much more widespread, roadblocks still remain. This has caused the industry & the scientific community to search for alternatives. One such route is via bio-based polymers.

The European Standard EN 16575:2014 'Bio-based products – Vocabulary' defines the term bio-based product refers to products wholly or partly derived from biomass, such as plants, trees or animals (the biomass can have undergone physical, chemical or biological treatment). The key to successful implementation of bio-based polymers to replace traditional polymers is to know as much as possible about the material before starting processing.

To do this quickly, instead of trial-and-error testing, you can use Hansen Solubility Parameters (HSP). With HSP, you can quickly:

• Characterize new materials
• Predict practical solutions for the solubility and compatibility of new materials

To understand how to apply this in practice, let's take 2 such bio-based polymers, which help address the environmental concerns in two different ways.

1. Bio-polybutylene succinate, and
2. Bio-polybutylene succinate adipate

Bio-PBS and Bio-PBSA are bio-based polymers from PTTMC. PTTMC is a strategic joint venture between PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited (PTTGC) and Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC).

Bio-PBS and Bio-PBSA are food contact grade crystalline polyesters which are produced from Succinic Acid and 1.4-Butanediol (BDO). Bio-PBS is naturally compostable at 30°C to H2O, CO2 and biomass without composting facility.

The Succinic Acid used is from Succinity® which is a joint venture between BASF and Corbion. They use a proprietary production process in which bacteria or yeasts in a bio-reactor (fermenter) transform biomass, starch or sugar into the desired acid.