Circolide:
We are dependent on fossil carbon for materials around us. Polymeric materials such as acrylate is produced from fossil based materials and used for decorative and functional and usually used as coatings or in plexi-glass materials. This is a $15B + market with 8.6 Metric tons. This molecule is based on fossil feed stock. Characteristics that are important are: Price, sustainability, Performance, Toxicology, Availability. Sustainability is important but it is mostly about ANC.
Circolide – Uses Butenolides that can be produced in scale. Tunable side chain, which is structurally similar to Acrylates. The advantage is growing demand (AkzoNobel /Ikea), stricter regulations and technology.
They use Furfural as secondary feedstock – – corn cobs, sugarcane bagasse, rice husk and that generates Furfural. This is changed hydroxyfuranal by photochemistry and Oxygen through a Taylor vortex reactor that mixes Oxygen
Thus tunable high end building blocks are possible for speciality applications such as coating glass, and get solvent resistance, hardness.
Ecoatex –
Problem – Agrowaste is burned or discarded or left unprocessed. Petrochemical production is the feedstock so fossil-based materials make it cost volatile. Bioengineered leather is TLR5. Multi-layer composite sheet that has nano-cellulose, coating, organic and Fabric backing to make it look like genuine leather, or as plastic sheets. It can be comparable to Mushroom based leather, Kombucha based leather, Pineapple leaves based leather or Synthetic leather at 0.5mm to 6mm thickness. This platform can convert agricultural waste into high performance biodegradable fibers. Similarly enzymatic nanocellulose hydrogels produces a next generation fibers.
Advantages: 4 hours to create 1 sheet of leather vs Mycelium PU based which take 2 weeks+ to produce. It is also cheaper at $0.85 per sq ft vs $5-$10 for Mycelium based leathers.
