Lecture

Aliphatic Polyesters: Sustainable Design and Processing

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Description

This lecture explores the sustainable design and processing of aliphatic polyesters, focusing on function-driven design, chemical recycling, and the properties range expansion through microstructure design. It covers topics such as fermentation, photosynthesis, degradation mechanisms, and thiol-functionalized polyesters. The lecture also delves into the degradation profile of a library of polyesters, the factors affecting the degradation rate, and the environmental impact considerations. Additionally, it discusses the challenges of environmentally sustainable packaging, the role of polyesters in addressing these challenges, and the outlook for sustainable polymers obtained from renewable resources.

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Chemistry

Organic chemistry: Polymer chemistry

Related concepts (32)

Polymer degradation

Polymer degradation is the reduction in the physical properties of a polymer, such as strength, caused by changes in its chemical composition. Polymers and particularly plastics are subject to degradation at all stages of their product life cycle, including during their initial processing, use, disposal into the environment and recycling. The rate of this degradation varies significantly; biodegradation can take decades, whereas some industrial processes can completely decompose a polymer in hours.

Fermentation

Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substances through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food production, it may more broadly refer to any process in which the activity of microorganisms brings about a desirable change to a foodstuff or beverage. The science of fermentation is known as zymology.

Ethanol fermentation

Ethanol fermentation, also called alcoholic fermentation, is a biological process which converts sugars such as glucose, fructose, and sucrose into cellular energy, producing ethanol and carbon dioxide as by-products. Because yeasts perform this conversion in the absence of oxygen, alcoholic fermentation is considered an anaerobic process. It also takes place in some species of fish (including goldfish and carp) where (along with lactic acid fermentation) it provides energy when oxygen is scarce.

Sustainable packaging

Sustainable packaging is the development and use of packaging which results in improved sustainability. This involves increased use of life cycle inventory (LCI) and life cycle assessment (LCA) to help guide the use of packaging which reduces the environmental impact and ecological footprint. It includes a look at the whole of the supply chain: from basic function, to marketing, and then through to end of life (LCA) and rebirth.

Sustainable design

Environmentally sustainable design (also called environmentally conscious design, eco-design, etc.) is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of ecological sustainability and also aimed at improving the health and comfort of occupants in a building. Sustainable design seeks to reduce negative impacts on the environment, the health and well-being of building occupants, thereby improving building performance.

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