Researchers look at soy oil to replace petroleum for a range of products
Virginia Tech researchers are mixing air and soybean oil to create new polymers to replace petroleum-based materials.
“These natural polymers could be used in biocompatible or biodegradable ways,” says Tim Long of Blacksburg, chemistry professor in the College of Science at Virginia Tech. “We are looking for natural products derived in the United States.”
Ann R. Fornof of Toledo, Ohio, a graduate student in Virginia Tech’s Macromolecular and Science Engineering program, will present the research at the 227th annual meeting of the American Chemical Society in Anaheim, Calif., March 28 through April 1, 2004.
“We bubble air and a catalyst through the oil to generate reactive compounds called polyols, which are suitable for polymerization,” Long explains. “Polyols are used in polyurethanes, such as elastomers, foams, and biomedical applications.”
Fornof”s and Long’s work represents a collaboration between chemistry and chemical engineering. The research is supported by the U.S. Soybean Board.
Fornof earned her undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from Columbia University, after graduating from Notre Dame Academy (high school) in Toledo.
Fornof will present the paper on “Synthesis and characterization of polyols via air oxidation of triglycerides (PMSE 444),” co-authored by Long, at 8:50 a.m. Thursday, April 1, in the Palm East room of the Anaheim Coast Hotel as part of the symposium on New Concepts in Polymeric Materials.
Media Contact
More Information:
http://www.technews.vt.edu/All latest news from the category: Power and Electrical Engineering
This topic covers issues related to energy generation, conversion, transportation and consumption and how the industry is addressing the challenge of energy efficiency in general.
innovations-report provides in-depth and informative reports and articles on subjects ranging from wind energy, fuel cell technology, solar energy, geothermal energy, petroleum, gas, nuclear engineering, alternative energy and energy efficiency to fusion, hydrogen and superconductor technologies.
Newest articles
High-energy-density aqueous battery based on halogen multi-electron transfer
Traditional non-aqueous lithium-ion batteries have a high energy density, but their safety is compromised due to the flammable organic electrolytes they utilize. Aqueous batteries use water as the solvent for…
First-ever combined heart pump and pig kidney transplant
…gives new hope to patient with terminal illness. Surgeons at NYU Langone Health performed the first-ever combined mechanical heart pump and gene-edited pig kidney transplant surgery in a 54-year-old woman…
Biophysics: Testing how well biomarkers work
LMU researchers have developed a method to determine how reliably target proteins can be labeled using super-resolution fluorescence microscopy. Modern microscopy techniques make it possible to examine the inner workings…
