(459b) Biobased Plastic Derived from Cereal Proteins

Our work focuses on the development of an innovative processing method for yielding commercial-grade polymeric materials derived solely from biobased resources such as cereal proteins. Our approach for conditioning and processing the starting material leads to a solid plastic that is fully biodegradable. Our production method is expected to result in cost-competitive biobased polymer products with mechanical and performance attributes comparable to, or better than, those of their synthetic plastic counterparts. Plastic materials that are made entirely from cereal proteins are natural, and will, therefore, reduce pollution of the environment caused by toxic chemicals used in synthetic plastic manufacture and by non-degradable plastic waste accumulation.