Sarkar, A.K. orcid.org/0000-0002-8262-7485, Yang, Z., Astruc, T. et al. (1 more author) (2025) Aqueous‐based assembly of plant‐derived proteins yields a crosslinker‐free biodegradable bioplastic consistent with green chemistry principles. ChemSusChem, 18 (5). e202401567. ISSN 1864-5631
Abstract
Plastics are an indispensable part of modern life. Due to the harmful environmental consequences of petroleum‐based plastic usage, there is an urgent need to replace them with biodegradable bioplastics that meet the sustainability standards required for a low environmental footprint. Here, we use plant‐derived proteins to produce bioplastics. Since most plant‐derived proteins are not water‐soluble, there has always been a need to use acidic or basic solutions or organic solvents with plasticizers and crosslinkers to produce bioplastic. Here, we present a counterintuitive approach for using water‐insoluble plant‐derived soy and pea proteins to manufacture large‐scale bioplastics using only water as a solvent without common plasticizers or crosslinkers. We show that bioplastics can form via a self‐assembly process initiated by a small molecular initiator while maintaining favourable mechanical properties. The lack of crosslinking and the protein nature of the bioplastic leads to a rapid biodegradation process under various conditions. Overall, the approach we present is highly attractive in terms of cost and time, and most importantly, it obeys all the relevant principles of green chemistry in bioplastics production.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 The Authors. ChemSusChem published by Wiley-VCH GmbH. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ |
Keywords: | Biodegradable plastics; Bioplastics; Green chemistry; Plant-derived proteins; Sustainable chemistry |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 26 Nov 2024 16:00 |
Last Modified: | 12 Mar 2025 17:17 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1002/cssc.202401567 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:220091 |