EcoSynthetix lands SDTC funding to commercialize EcoMer biomonomer platform

February 3, 2012

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Burlington, Ontario-based EcoSynthetix Inc. has secured a $2.1 million funding award from Sustainable Development Technology Canada to support the development and commercialization of its novel biobased EcoMer monomer technology platform, which has the potential to address a $30 billion target market across multiple industrial applications such as toners, water-based inks, water-based paints and coatings, surfactants and pressure sensitive adhesives (PSA).

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Glycerin – Chemical building block

January 26, 2012
Crude glycerine is usually used in the animal feed market or can be refined or purified for higher-value applications such as in pharmaceuticals, soaps, cosmetics, food and beverages. In fact there are probably over 1,500 different uses of glycerol, according to industry players. Glycerol is structurally analogous to sugars.
 
According to the US Department of Energy (DOE) in a 2004 study, glycerol is one of the top 12 building block chemicals from biomass. Glycerol is made from natural fats and oils (as we sometimes called it lipids) via the chemical process esterification/transesterification. Crude glycerin has minimum 85% glycerol, with low salts and many organics such as free fatty acids and distillates), according to ICIS.
 
Within biodiesel production, the purity of biodiesel (and consequently glycerin) depends on the feedstock used. Higher cost virgin vegetable oil feedstocks contain few impurities and are comparatively easy to process while lower cost and unrefined virgin vegetable oil feedstocks generally contain impurities that must be pretreated as part of the production process.
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Rhodia and Avantium to jointly develop biobased polyamide bioplastics

January 26, 2012

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Rhodia, member of the Solvay Group, and Avantium announced today that they have entered into a partnership to jointly develop a range of new bio-based polyamides targeting a variety of applications.

This partnership expands and completes the previously announced development agreement in the field of bio-based engineering plastics between Solvay and Avantium. Building on the newly combined forces of Rhodia and Solvay, the extended relationship offers the partners a unique opportunity to explore a wide range of compositions and applications based on Avantium’s YXY technology in the larger Polyamide field.In the frame of this joint development, the companies will explore the market potential of polyamide compositions on the basis of YXY building blocks. Produced from renewable and bio-based feedstock, these compositions are expected to exhibit superior environmental profile and at the same time to deliver applicative performances at a competitive cost. Rhodia will test these new polyamides for fibers and engineering applications in various areas such as consumer goods, automotive and electronic materials. Rhodia and Avantium have entered into a multi-year, exclusive collaboration towards commercialization of these new polyamides.

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