A low-cost, sustainable polymer invented in Ithaca that enables carbon dioxide to replace fossil fuels in high-performance plastics made its commercial debut in 2014.

In October, Novomer’s new Converge polymer was adopted by Jowat AG, a German supplier of industrial adhesives, for use in a commercial hot-melt adhesive.

“That was our first real validation that this technology is working out as we had anticipated,” said Scott Allen, vice president for catalyst development.

Converge can replace up to 50 percent of petroleum-based products used in the traditional manufacturing process, reducing its carbon footprint and lowering its cost while still maintaining high performance.

“Carbon dioxide is a waste product primarily of energy generation but also from other industrial processes — ammonia synthesis, cement synthesis and fermentation,” Allen said. “By using carbon dioxide as a feedstock, we can make these high-performance materials but bring the cost down.”

Cornell chemistry professor Geoffrey Coates started working on making plastics from carbon dioxide in his lab in 1997; he co-founded Novomer in 2004 to commercialize the technology.

“One of the challenges we found early on was when you make a new material, everyone is willing to try it,” Allen noted. “But if it doesn’t fit right into a formulation they already have, it’s easy to dismiss. Jowat was really good at working with us, and telling what they needed and how we could help them. And we ended up with a nice product that they’re selling now.”

One hallmark of the new adhesive is its durability. “Jowat didn’t want it to fall apart when it touches water,” Allen said. “Our material has very good hydrolytic resistance and when you add it to this formulation, it gives the adhesive the performance they need without sacrificing performance in other areas.”

Another challenge Novomer faced was demonstrating its manufacturing capabilities on a commercial scale.

“Customers don’t want to adopt your material unless you show you can provide it,” Allen said. “They don’t want to devote the resources to validating that your product works if you don’t have a way to ultimately meet what their demand is. So it was critical that we met this demand and demonstrated that we could manufacture it in a plant. That was a key success last year.” Converge is made at a plant in Houston, Texas.

With an increasing emphasis on sustainability, Novomer seems poised for increased growth in the coming years.

“Our polymer brings a unique performance to the market at a price point that I think opens it up to much broader applications,” Allen said. “We have a material that performs distinctly from what’s out there competitively. And I think people are looking for alternatives that use carbon dioxide or have some reduced carbon footprint. But no one is going to buy the product based solely on that. You’re going have to have performance as well.”

 

ithacajournal.com

Report Abuse