Helping Corn-Based Plastics Take More Heat
But Orts and a team of collaborators from Lapol, LLC, of Santa Barbara, Calif., hope to change that by making corn-derived plastics more heat-tolerant. Orts and Lapol co-investigators Allison Flynn and Lennard Torres are doing the work at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Western Regional Research Center in Albany, Calif., where Orts leads the Bioproduct Chemistry and Engineering Research Unit. ARS is USDA's principal intramural scientific research agency.
By boosting the bioplastics' heat tolerance, the collaboration—under way since 2007—may broaden the range of applications for which corn-derived plastics could be used as an alternative to petroleum-based plastics.
Corn-based plastics are made by fermenting corn sugar to produce lactic acid. The lactic acid is used to form polylactic acid, or PLA, a bioplastic. The Albany team is developing a product known as a heat-deflection temperature modifier that would be blended with PLA to make it more heat-tolerant.
The modifier is more than 90 percent corn-based and is fully biodegradable. There currently are no commercially available heat-deflection temperature modifiers for PLA, according to Randall L. Smith, chief operating officer at Lapol. ARS and Lapol are seeking a patent for the invention.
Read more about this and other ARS corn research in the September 2010 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2010/100901.htm
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).
Media Contact
More Information:
http://www.ars.usda.govAll latest news from the category: Agricultural and Forestry Science
Newest articles
Red light therapy for repairing spinal cord injury passes milestone
Patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) could benefit from a future treatment to repair nerve connections using red and near-infrared light. The method, invented by scientists at the University of…
Insect research is revolutionized by technology
New technologies can revolutionise insect research and environmental monitoring. By using DNA, images, sounds and flight patterns analysed by AI, it’s possible to gain new insights into the world of…
X-ray satellite XMM-newton sees ‘space clover’ in a new light
Astronomers have discovered enormous circular radio features of unknown origin around some galaxies. Now, new observations of one dubbed the Cloverleaf suggest it was created by clashing groups of galaxies….