Pittsburg/Atchison, Kansas – Details of an innovation in the field of sustainable polyols uncovered by Pittsburg State University and MGP Ingredients Inc (MPGI) have been published on the US Patent Office website.
MPGI is a naturally-derived specialty ingredients developer and supplier while Pittsburg State University is home to the Kansas Polymer Research Center.
The patent filing covers a process for the production of polyols using distillers’ grains, proteins and lignin extracted from distillers’ grains. It was filed with the office in February last year and published last month.
The partnership's bid to protect the innovation comes four years after they joined forces as part of the Kansas Bio-Plastics Commercialisation Collaborative, a project which attracted nearly $1.3m (EUR970,000) in federal funding.
According to information filed with the US Patent Office: “The rigid foam polyurethanes produced using the polyols of the invention have high functionalities of around 3-8 hydroxyl groups/mole and the polymer chains bearing only one hydroxyl group are short.
“Thus, the invention gives considerable added value to otherwise low-cost proteinaceous materials with minimum additional cost for processing difficulty,” it continued.
MGPI - based in Atchison, Kanas lent its expertise and facilities to test new polymers and develop new products.
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