{"id":166466,"date":"2025-08-15T07:23:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T05:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=166466"},"modified":"2025-08-14T14:24:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T12:24:21","slug":"leaf-inspired-design-brings-bioplastics-to-the-big-leagues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/leaf-inspired-design-brings-bioplastics-to-the-big-leagues\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaf-inspired design brings bioplastics to the big leagues"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\"LEAFF
LEAFF bioplastic packaging holds an apple slice. The original form of this fermented sugar-based plastic requires high-temperature composting to degrade, but WashU\u2019s engineers have a new form of this packaging that degrades into harmless organic material at room temperature. (Photo: Puneet Dhatt)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Society has long struggled with petroleum-derived plastic pollution, and awareness of microplastics\u2019 detrimental effects on food and water supplies adds further pressure.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, researchers have been developing biodegradable versions of traditional plastics, or \u201cbioplastics.\u201d However, current bioplastics face challenges as well: Current versions are not as strong as petrochemical-based plastics and they only degrade through a high-temperature composting system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enter researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, who have solved both problems with inspiration from the humble leaf. Long before plastic, humans wrapped their food in leaves, which easily biodegrade due to an underlying structure of cellulose-rich cell walls. WashU\u2019s chemical engineers decided to introduce cellulose nanofibers to the design of bioplastics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe created this multilayer structure where cellulose is in the middle and the bioplastics are on two sides,\u201d said Joshua Yuan, the Lucy and Stanley Lopata Professor and chair of energy, environmental and chemical engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering<\/strong>.\u00a0Yuan is also director for the National Science Foundation-funded Carbon Utilization Redesign for Biomanufacturing (CURB) Engineering Research Center. \u201cIn this way, we created a material that is very strong and that offers multifunctionality,\u201d b added.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The technology emerged from working with two of the highest production bioplastics today. In a study published in Green Chemistry<\/a> earlier this year, Yuan and colleagues used a variation of their leaf-inspired cellulose nanofiber structure to improve the strength and biodegradability of polyhydroxybutrate (PHB), a starch-derived plastic; they further refined their technique for polylactic acid (PLA), as detailed in a new paper just published in Nature Communications.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plastic packaging market is a $23.5 billion industry dominated by polyethylene and polypropylene, polymers made from petroleum that break down into harmful microplastics. The researchers\u2019 optimized bioplastic, called Layered, Ecological, Advanced and multi-Functional Film (LEAFF), turned PLA into a packaging material that is biodegradable at room temperature. Additionally, the structure allows for other critical properties, such as low air or water permeability, helping keep food stable, and a surface that is printable. This improves bioplastics\u2019 affordability since it saves manufacturers from printing separate labels for packaging. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cOn top of all of this, the LEAFF\u2019s underlying cellulose structure gives it a higher tensile strength than even petrochemical plastics like polyethylene and polypropylene,\u201d explained Puneet Dhatt, a PhD student in Yuan\u2019s lab and first author<\/strong> on the article.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The innovation was in adding that cellulosic structure that WashU\u2019s engineers replicated, cellulose fibrils embedded within the bioplastics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThis unique biomimicking design allows us to address the limitations of bioplastic usage and overcome that technical barrier and allow for broader bioplastic utilization,\u201d Yuan<\/strong> said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Circular economy ready<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The United States is uniquely positioned to dominate the bioplastics market and establish a \u201ccircular economy\u201d wherein waste products are reused, fed back into systems instead of left to pollute the air and water or sit in landfills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yuan hopes this technology can scale up soon and seeks commercial and philanthropic partners to help bring these improved processes to industry. Competitors from Asian and European research institutions also are working to develop similar technology. But U.S. industries have an advantage due to the country\u2019s vast agriculture system \u2014 and WashU is near the center of the nation\u2019s agrichemical industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe U.S. is particularly strong in agriculture,\u201d Yuan<\/strong> said. \u201cWe can provide the feedstock for bioplastic production at a lower price compared to other parts of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cfeedstock\u201d Yuan is referring to are chemicals such as lactic acid, acetate or fatty acids like oleate, products of corn or starch fermentation by microbes that serve as bioplastic factories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pseudomonas putida<\/em>, for instance is a microbial strain widely used in the fermentation industry, including to produce a variety of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), including PHB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McKelvey Engineering researchers have designed ways to convert various wastes, including carbon dioxide, lignin and food waste, into bioplastics using strains such as P. putida<\/em>. With improved bioplastic design, Yuan\u2019s research further fills in that loop, with a version of PHB and PLA that could be produced much more efficiently and degrade safely into the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe United States has a waste problem, and circular reuse could go a long way to turning that waste into useful materials,\u201d Yuan said. \u201cIf we can ramp up our bioplastic supply chain, it would create jobs and new markets,\u201d he<\/strong> said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

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\"This
This illustration shows the natural inspiration for improved biodegrable bioplastic packaging, the cellulose structure of a leaf. (Image created in BioRender<\/a> by Puneet Dhatt)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Dhatt PS, Hu A, Hu C, Huynh V, Dai SY, Yuan JS, Biomimetic layered, ecological, advanced, multi-functional film for sustainable packaging. Nat Commun 16, 6649 (2025). DOI:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41467-025-61693-2<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This work was supported by NSF EEC 2330245, NSF MCB 2229160, and U.S. Department of Energy BETO (Bioenergy Technologies Office) Projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Li J, Liu W, Chang A, Foudeh Z, Yu J, Wei P, Chen K, Hu C, Puneet D, Dai SY, Yuan JS. Integrated design of multifunctional reinforced bioplastics (MReB) to synergistically enhance strength, degradability, and functionality. Green Chemistry, vol 27; issue 18,15 April 2025. DOI:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1039\/d4gc02440k<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This work is supported by NSF MCB 2229160, and U.S. Department of Energy BETO (Bioenergy Technologies Office) projects including EE 0007104, DE EE 0008250, and others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Society has long struggled with petroleum-derived plastic pollution, and awareness of microplastics\u2019 detrimental effects on food and water supplies adds further pressure.\u00a0 In response, researchers have been developing biodegradable versions of traditional plastics, or \u201cbioplastics.\u201d However, current bioplastics face challenges as well: Current versions are not as strong as petrochemical-based plastics and they only degrade […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":166468,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"Adding cellulose makes bioplastics biodegradable, stronger","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[11270,5838,5935,5847,6162,10416,10408,26769,10954],"supplier":[20663,2227],"class_list":["post-166466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-biodegradability","tag-bioeconomy","tag-bioplastic","tag-bioplastics","tag-cellulose","tag-circulareconomy","tag-greenchemistry","tag-leaf","tag-microplastics","supplier-nature-communications","supplier-washington-university-in-st-louis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166466\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166466"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=166466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}