TK Bio-based Materials & Energy
Recently, the Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems (Fraunhofer IMWS) and the specialty wax company DEUREX jointly developed a fully biodegradable bio-based wax modifier (trade name BIOMER).
Experiments have shown that adding only 1.5% of this bio-based wax can significantly alter the melt flow characteristics, material stiffness, and tensile strength of polybutylene succinate (PBS), providing a novel modification solution for biodegradable packaging mesh materials.
This research belongs to the BioZ project under the German WIR! Innovation Alliance, which is part of the national cross-sectoral bioeconomy network Trans BIB. The project aims to develop fully biodegradable processing aids that can replace petrochemical-based modifiers using renewable agricultural and forestry resources, and to achieve industrialization in scenarios such as fruit and vegetable packaging mesh.
Core Technological Advantages
The most significant feature of this self-developed solution is its exceptional adjustability:
By adding bio-based modified waxes, the processing rheological properties of bioplastics such as PBS can be precisely controlled, increasing or decreasing melt viscosity; simultaneously, it improves the dispersion of pigments and fillers in the system without compromising the overall biodegradability of the material. Currently, no similar universal platform technology based on renewable raw materials exists in the industry.
Existing commercially available modifiers are mostly based on petrochemical waxes or graft copolymers, offering limited compatibility with biodegradable products; however, this developed product is a drop-in seamless alternative, directly compatible with existing industrial production lines without equipment modifications, providing a low-cost path for the green transformation of the traditional plastics industry.
Material Preparation and Process Route
The raw material is a bio-based material with sugarcane bagasse as its base. The molecular weight of the bio-based wax is precisely controlled through oxidative degradation; then, through chemical modification with active groups, the interfacial interaction between the wax and the PBS matrix material is directionally controlled.
The prepared bio-wax was blended with bioplastics using two processes: intermittent melt blending and continuous melt blending. Based on this, the project team characterized the microstructure of the blends and analyzed the final mechanical and rheological properties of the materials.
