INSTRUMENTAL POLYMER TECHNOLOGIES, LLC — Department of Agriculture SBIR Phase I: 8.800000000000001

Description

This project addresses objectives within the Section 8.8 Biofuels and Biobased Products andparticularly those within the subtopic 8.8.1 New Non-food Biobased Products from NewIndustrial Crops. It will use industrial crops to supply raw materials for one of the fastestgrowing fields of plastics; that being polyurethane dispersions (PUDs). The global PUD marketis expected to reach $2.4 Billion by 2023 with a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of7.1%. This is a perfect timing to replace current PUDs that are derived from petrochemicalswith PUD's derived from industrial crops. INSTRUMENTAL POLYMER TECHNOLOGIES(IPTECH) has the experience and capabilities to achieve this goal.IPTECH will use a nonisocyanate synthetic route to the polyurethane in which a primaryaliphatic amine reacts with a cyclic carbonate. During this project IPTECH will synthesize twomonomers that will contribute particular toughness and chemical resistance to the PUD. We willalso utilize a unique proprietary crosslinker for the PUD called QUICKSTAR 94XAC that isproduced from biosourced raw materials. This crosslinker developed by IPTECH has been soldfor the last 8 years to current manufacturers of PUDs. It's unique in being able to be stored in theemulsion for extended periods of time however crosslinking the emulsion particles once acoating is formed. This crosslinker will enable the PUD developed in this project to haveperformance properties that can compete not only with current PUD systems but conventionalsolvent born two component polyurethane systems.IPTECH currently sells polymers to manufacturers and coatings adhesives sealants andelastomers as well as to manufacturers of PUDs. We will be able to utilize our current productionand distribution capability as well as our relationships with coatings adhesive sealants andPUD manufacturers for launching this technology.