Understanding phase behaviour in plant proteins for large scale production of films and microcapsules
Drawing on the expertise from the Experienced Researcher, this MSCA application aims to significantly advance the understanding of phase behaviour in plant proteins, to enable development of two primary products for sustainable plastic replacement, microcapsules and thermoplastic flexible films. Currently, large-scale production of plant protein based plastic alternatives is hampered by a lack of advanced knowledge of the phase behaviour of plant proteins. This research programme thus aims to for the first time systematically investigate the key phase transition of plant proteins — thermal phase transition and phase separation. This objective will be achieved by uniting two sets of skills: i) the Experienced Researcher’s expertise in plant protein self-assembly and ii) specialized knowledge of chemists, engineers and business management at Xampla Ltd for the commercially successful application of plant protein materials. The breakthrough aspect will be uniting traditional polymer science regarding phase transition and molecular understanding of proteins – the obtained materials can be manufactured using established industrial platform used for polymer processing. The approach thus makes the products competitive with current bio-based polymeric materials in market, or even synthetic plastic materials. Therefore, the research program will boost the European green-material market and addresses the Horizon 2020 societal and economic challenges.