Bioplastics made from residual materials
Scientists at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg are researching optimized processes for the production of bioplastics. The goal is to make the production of bioplastics cheaper, faster, and more competitive, thereby increasingly replacing conventional plastics as packaging materials with bioplastics.
CDS member Dr. Stefanie Duvigneau from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg heads the research group "Synthesis of Sustainable Biotechnological Processes." Bioplastics are intended to increasingly replace conventional plastics as a sustainable alternative. The use of bioplastic compounds in the medical field could reduce the need for subsequent surgical interventions, explains Duvigneau. Bioplastics can be produced from a wide variety of biological materials using bacteria. Currently, bioplastics are manufactured industrially worldwide, but only with a small market share. Her goal is to significantly improve these production processes. "To achieve this, we use computer models that simulate how the plastic could be produced as quickly as possible, with high yield, and as sustainably as possible," says Duvigneau. Experiments are then conducted in the laboratory.
The research is part of the "SmartProSys" research cluster, which aims to create a "green" chemical industry. Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg is participating in the new round of the Excellence Initiative of the German federal and state governments with this and two other research clusters.
Stefanie Duvigneau recently received the Klaus-Erich-Pollmann Research Award from the University of Magdeburg for her outstanding research.
For the official press release of the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg
Regarding the article "Bioplastic from apple juice residue" in the Volksstimme newspaper