TY - JOUR
T1 - Amorphous Sugar Materials as Sustainable and Scalable Alternatives for Rigid, Short-Term-Use Products
AU - Miller-Cassman, Terra
AU - Nogales, Kyle A.
AU - Phillips, Scott T.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.
PY - 2023/3/6
Y1 - 2023/3/6
N2 - Plastics are the prevailing materials for short-term-use applications, despite being designed to last far longer than often is needed or desired. This article describes a class of materials that are formed from small-molecule sugars, rather than polymers, as a scalable and environmentally friendly replacement for rigid thermoplastics for short-term-use applications. The materials use amorphous isomalt as a matrix and natural additives to tune the mechanical properties. Like plastics, this class of materials is lightweight and can be produced efficiently at low temperatures via injection molding, yet the materials emulate the rigidity and strength of ceramics and stones. Repeated recycling is achieved via a closed-loop process without degradation of the isomalt binder and without loss of mechanical properties. Finally, these materials are resistant to water for hours when coated, yet ultimately dissolve within minutes when broken, with the resulting products being nontoxic small-molecule and degradable bio-based materials. This combination of traits makes amorphous isomalt materials suitable as an alternative to persistent plastics in short-term-use applications.
AB - Plastics are the prevailing materials for short-term-use applications, despite being designed to last far longer than often is needed or desired. This article describes a class of materials that are formed from small-molecule sugars, rather than polymers, as a scalable and environmentally friendly replacement for rigid thermoplastics for short-term-use applications. The materials use amorphous isomalt as a matrix and natural additives to tune the mechanical properties. Like plastics, this class of materials is lightweight and can be produced efficiently at low temperatures via injection molding, yet the materials emulate the rigidity and strength of ceramics and stones. Repeated recycling is achieved via a closed-loop process without degradation of the isomalt binder and without loss of mechanical properties. Finally, these materials are resistant to water for hours when coated, yet ultimately dissolve within minutes when broken, with the resulting products being nontoxic small-molecule and degradable bio-based materials. This combination of traits makes amorphous isomalt materials suitable as an alternative to persistent plastics in short-term-use applications.
KW - biodegradable
KW - biomaterial
KW - closed-loop recycling
KW - industrial-scale production
KW - isomalt
KW - mechanically triggered dissolution
KW - short-term-use
KW - single-use
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85149008728&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c06981
DO - 10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c06981
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85149008728
VL - 11
SP - 3801
EP - 3809
JO - ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering
JF - ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering
IS - 9
ER -