High performance functional bio-based polymers for skin-contact products in biomedical, cosmetic and sanitary industry

Project Information

POLYBIOSKIN

Grant agreement ID: 745839

DOI

10.3030/745839

Project closed

EC signature date 27 April 2017

Start date 1 June 2017

End date 31 July 2020

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy

Total cost

€ 4 058 359,38

EU contribution

€ 3 438 047,50

Coordinated by

IRIS TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, SOCIEDAD LIMITADA
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - POLYBIOSKIN (High performance functional bio-based polymers for skin-contact products in biomedical, cosmetic and sanitary industry)

Reporting period: 2018-12-01 to 2020-07-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Personal care, cosmetic and biomedical industries deal with high-value and/or large volume consumption of polymer based products which are often derived from fossil sources. Although a number of alternative bio-based polymers is the subject of recent researches, more effort is still needed to increase their specific functionalities and performances in order to proceed with their actual translation into market. PolyBioSkin aims at developing skin-contact biopolymer based product parts with increased performance and functionality, such as parts of diapers, cosmetic masks and wound dressings. Indeed, PolyBioSkin focuses on two main classes of bio-based polymers relevant for next generation biobased industry: biopolyesters because fully renewable, biocompatible, biodegradable and available at an industrial scale, and natural polysaccharides derived from biomass and food waste, for their peculiar properties, such as absorbency and anti-microbial activity.
Films and textiles are produced starting from these polymers and their combinations to prove that key products and/or product parts in sanitary, cosmetic and biomedical industry can be effectively translated from a fossil-derived to bio-based polymer production.
PolyBioSkin will provide skin-contact products having a much more environmentally friendly end of life than the current accumulation in landfills or incineration, thanks to their biodegradability allowing the organic recycling.
In PolyBioSkin three different applications targeting the personal care, cosmetic and biomedical sectors, respectively are considered: (1) The production of functionalized diaper/fem-care napkin parts.(2) the preparation of an innovative beauty mask completely renewable; (3) the production of a functionalized and renewable wound dressing.
The common goals for the three applications are: (a) renewable content higher than 90%; (b) the effective compostability; (c) specific functional properties that make these products suitable for skin contact in each target application.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

First, the state-of-the-art about bio-based material for skin-contact purposes has been defined and potential candidates to be used as biopolymers and active molecules have been identified. Furthermore, the process and product specifications have been defined in order to match the market expectation as well as the requirements of the WPs in charge of the scale-up and prototyping, considering both requisites of the plastic converters and end-users.
SANITARY SECTOR: The selection and formulation of bio-based polymers for films diaper top-sheet was carried out taking into account the needs of the production technology. Different production processes have been tested and the best one selected for its further scale-up.
The best bio-based material for the synthesis of a superadsorbent layer was defined. Different techniques for the surface modification of topsheets and were investigated and selected with the main goal of providing advanced functionalities to the tested materials (antimicrobial, antioxidant ...).
COSMETIC SECTOR:In the project, two different approaches for a biobased facial beauty masks were followed: one based on bioplastic film and the other based on a textile. Both approaches have been studied taking into account the renewable content of the final products and the potential scalability of the material. Finally, the best option, based on a biobased textile was selected considering its potentiality as commercial product. Different active compound have been studied as possible natural antioxidant agents and included in the beauty mask structure.
BIOMEDICAL SECTOR: The biopolymer that will be used in wound healing patch prototype have been selected and produced during the project. Different production technology have been tested and the most promising is ready for the scale-up stage. Innovative technology for the dry impregnation of active compound presenting particular properties is under investigation .

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The main goal of the project is to replace fossil-based materials with bio-based biodegradable polyesters addressing different markets, from consumer goods (diapers, femcare pads) to value-add products in the biomedical (wound dressing) and cosmetic (facial beauty mask). In these sectors the presence of particular functionalities (anti-microbial, self-healing, anti-ageing…) plays a crucial role for the market acceptance and the product success. Furthermore, the use of specific biobased materials for these purposes meet the increasing demand of eco-friendly products coming from the end-users, conjugating the reduction of the environment impact but also increasing material-skin compatibility. In particular PBS will validate products with enhanced properties that can be recyclable and/or biodegradable maintaining the same performances of the commercial ones (BBI JU KPI6). Furthermore, the use of natural renewable active compounds and nano-complexes will provide new advanced functionalities to the products (antimicrobial, antioxidant...) (BBI JU KPI5).
To do that, PolyBioSkin will implement, during the project, a deep study of the biopolymers available in the market, investigating their behaviour in industrial context. Different technology for the production of textiles and film have been sounded out and for the first time applied to biobased material for applications in the the sectors previously mentioned. Contemporarily, the addition of nano-complexes embedded with compounds providing specific characteristics will allow the validation of nano-enabled surface in a pre-industrial phase.