BioFene~(TM), a new, renewable monomer for elastomer materials with novel properties: polymer development, characterization, and use in rubber formulations

摘要

Amyris is a renewable products company that provides sustainable alternatives to a broad range of petroleum-sourced products. Using its biotechnology platform Amyris has optimized yeast strains to convert plant sugars into trans-β-farnesene (farnesene, or BioFene~(TM)) and in 2012 commissioned the first purpose-built plant to manufacture commercial quantities of this molecule, a versatile building block that provides differentiated performance across a range of applications. Its conjugated diene structure makes it a direct replacement for butadiene and isoprene, as well as acrylates and other olefins, and it has been shown to be a drop-in monomer into a range of polymerization chemistries, including anionic, radical, coordination, and cationic polymerization. When the diene moiety of farnesene is incorporated into the backbone of a polymer, the unique structure of its side-chain enables step-change performance in many materials applications. Amyris has partnered with the pioneering specialty chemical companies Cray Valley and Kuraray to develop farnesene-based polymers. Taking advantage of Cray Valley's leadership in functional resins, new BioFene~(TM)-based grades have been developed for use in radiation crosslinkable formulations, polyurethanes, and as intermediates for other polymerization technologies. The first product to be developed by Kuraray under this collaboration is Liquid Farnesene Rubber (LFR), which when used as a plasticizer additive for tires has been shown to provide lowered rolling resistance and improved rubber compounding. In an expansion of this collaboration, Kuraray is also developing new thermoplastic elastomers based on farnesene that expand their line of hydrogenated styrenic block copolymers. Based on the advantages demonstrated to date with farnesene in elastomer applications, there are many further opportunities to develop a wide range of new, farnesene-based materials with disruptive performance.