Description

PoliBioSkin

High performance functional bio-based polymers for skin-contact products in biomedical, cosmetic and sanitary industry. PolyBioSkin will focus on two main classes of bio-based polymers relevant for next generation bio-based industry: biopolyesters because fully renewable, biocompatible and biodegradable and available at an industrial scale, and natural polysaccharides (cellulose/starch and chitin/chitosan), derived from biomass and food waste, for their peculiar properties, such as absorbency and anti-infectivity.

Polybioskin is an international and interdisciplinary three-year research and development effort aiming to broaden the use of biopolymers in biomedical, cosmetic, and sanitary skin-contact applications.

Harnessing the extraordinary antimicrobial, antioxidant, absorbency, and skin compatibility features of biopolymers and decoupling the production of exemplary high-volume products from the depletion of fossil resources by utilising primary as well as food waste biomass, the project aims to provide functionally improved, significantly more sustainable, and price-competitive everyday products, namely baby diapers, facial beauty masks, and non-woven tissue to be used in wound dressings.

In addition, tailored biodegradability properties will make alternative end-of-life options such as organic recycling feasible for and drive the implementation of circular economy thinking in entire multi-billion euro product segments.

Approach:

PolyBioSkin will focus on two main classes of bio-based polymers with excellent innovation, sustainability, and commercialisation potential for the bio-based industry: biopolyesters, specifically PLA and PHAs, and the natural polysaccharides cellulose, starch, and chitin/chitosan.
The former have excellent properties including biodegradability and biocompatibility and are available at an advanced industrial scale. The polysaccharides have unique desirable attributes including high absorbancye and antibacterial properties. Films and textiles will be produced from these polymers and their combinations to prove that key products and/or product parts in the sanitary, cosmetic, and biomedical industries can be effectively shifted from a fossil-derived to bio-based polymer base.

PolyBioSkin will apply a range of processing technologies for biopolymer development, including electrospinning, surface modification, and impregnation of films and fibres, resulting in (i) A new biodegradable diaper consisting of a bio-based topsheet with antimicrobial and skin beneficial functionalities and a bio-based superabsorbent layer; (ii) Novel cosmetic masks based on textiles or films made from biopolymers and impregnated with molecules beneficial for the skin; (iii) Nano-structured highly skin-compatible textiles for wound dressing.