From Immediate Grits to Polymers: Scientist Kat Knauer Is Laser Targeted on Plastics Air pollution

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Polymer Scientist Applies Scientific Methodology To Remedy Biggest Environmental Challenges Whereas Making Lives Higher

Kat Knauer loved science lessons as a younger woman however her understanding that science might be used as an instrument for good was solidified when a beloved member of the family grew sick.

Her childhood canine, Penny, was having a extreme response to the pesticides her mom utilized to fireside ant mounds dotting the panorama round their south Florida dwelling. Knauer grew to become involved for Penny’s well being and turned to the scientific technique for potential options.

For her science truthful venture that yr, she selected to display and take a look at environmentally pleasant strategies for hearth ant extermination. The simplest technique for dispatching hearth ants to the afterlife? That ubiquitous southern staple, on the spot grits. She found, amongst different issues, that the tiny ant our bodies couldn’t deal with the excessive sodium content material or speedy enlargement of powdered on the spot grits.

She ended up profitable the science truthful. Then she gained the state science truthful. Knauer grew shocked after which intrigued that her mates, household, lecturers, and group had been excited concerning the science outcomes.

The impression surrounding her experiment supplied the younger Knauer with an impression that science might clear up our hardest environmental issues whereas making individuals’s (and pets’) lives higher.

Immediately, Knauer continues to be pushed to unveil scientific options to resolve challenges for not solely her family members but additionally the entire world itself. As a polymer scientist and the chief know-how officer of the NREL-led Bio-Optimized Applied sciences to maintain Thermoplastics out of Landfills and the Setting (BOTTLE™) consortium, Knauer is accountable for serving to clear up one of many world’s best challenges—plastic air pollution.

BOTTLE is a multiorganization consortium supported by the U.S. Division of Power’s Bioenergy Applied sciences Workplace and Superior Supplies and Manufacturing Applied sciences Workplace. The consortium is concentrated on growing new chemical upcycling methods for at this time’s plastics and redesigning tomorrow’s plastics to be recyclable by design.

Within the interview beneath (edited for size and readability), Knauer mentioned the evolution of her profession and the way NREL, the BOTTLE staff, and its dedicated companions are captivated with discovering science-based options to our plastics waste downside.

Inform me what led you to be a polymer scientist centered on our plastics downside?

My success on the science truthful was actually an affect, and as I grew older it grew to become clear that I actually loved math and chemistry. When it got here time for college, I selected chemical engineering as a result of it appeared like this good mixture of calculus and chemistry.

I used to be at all times captivated with environmentalism. Whereas at Florida State College I used to be lucky to do polymer analysis at a brand new campus institute centered on supplies science. There I realized that polymers had been the first parts of plastics.

I additionally got here to understand that we had this huge plastic waste downside polluting the planet, and polymers had been the basis reason behind it. But polymers and polymer chemistry have made the world a greater place and have improved the standard of life for many of society in some ways. However polymers aren’t dangerous. It’s simply that we’ve abused them.

Now we have obligations as scientists to discover a resolution for plastic waste mitigation, and I felt like if I obtained a Ph.D. in polymer chemistry, individuals would hearken to me and assume I used to be an knowledgeable, all of which might assist me make a much bigger impression on our plastics downside.

After your Ph.D. you labored for the non-public sector. How did these experiences impression your profession?

My ideas had been that if I labored for a big plastics and polymer science company, I might begin making an impression straight away by serving to commercialize plastic waste mitigation applied sciences sooner than staying in academia. I began engaged on recycling applied sciences and realized how recycling can grow to be commercially and economically viable. Nonetheless, I found rapidly that giant firms might be sluggish and danger opposed with obstacles to innovation. I wanted to maneuver sooner.

I made the leap to a startup firm, known as Novoloop, run by this superb group of girls and helped develop a chemical recycling pathway for hard-to-recycle movie waste, like grocery baggage and pallet shrink wrap. The pathway we developed oxidized that movie waste right down to beneficial constructing blocks to make new polymer supplies. And this polymer—a thermoplastic polyurethane or TPU—that I labored on for a few years has reached business viability as the only real of a working shoe.

That’s good to see all that tough work flip right into a sustainable, business product.

Sure, the good half is that we had been taking one thing that’s thought-about single use and so low worth like a grocery bag and making it into a fabric that’s now going into $200 trainers. That is upcycling at its best.

So, your transition from the non-public to public sector was finalized by incomes the chief know-how officer (CTO) function for BOTTLE, which has a pleasant ring to it.

Sure, positively.

What made NREL and BOTTLE appear to be a very good match?

I cherished my time at Novoloop. It’s the place I actually grew to become a greater chemist. I additionally skilled the pivotal technique of commercialization by taking an thought from bench scale to an actual product. But, after experiencing the manufacturing of recycled TPU for a working shoe, I spotted I needed to work on a large number of applied sciences and make a much bigger dent in as some ways potential. I needed to analysis your entire plastics waste stream and provide chain.

Whereas at Novoloop, I attended the Nationwide Academies’ Chemical Sciences Roundtable the place they invited scientists to speak concerning the plastic waste downside. Gregg Beckham, senior analysis fellow at NREL, spoke on the roundtable and laid out his imaginative and prescient for a brand new plastics upcycling consortium, what would grow to be BOTTLE. I used to be excited concerning the potential. This was what I needed to do.

Gregg and I spoke, and he inspired me to do a seminar at NREL. I did, and after I was right here, I knew that is the place I needed to be. The individuals right here, the caliber of labor that was occurring, and Gregg’s imaginative and prescient for BOTTLE had been aligned with my mission and targets as a scientist.

Over the following two years, BOTTLE grew to become actual. That’s when Gregg reached again out to me, and we began speaking about how I might grow to be concerned. Our conversations advanced into the CTO function.

It looks as if the whole lot aligned nicely between your self and NREL. What are your core obligations as BOTTLE CTO?

This can be a distinctive function in that it’s a hybrid—I’m half enterprise improvement (BD) and half researcher. I handle strategic exterior partnerships by growing, defining, and main particular analysis tasks with these accomplice firms. For the BD half, I present U.S. and world firms how BOTTLE applied sciences can meet their sustainability or plastics circularity wants. I additionally outline with them what a venture at NREL would seem like and the outputs we might realistically ship to them.

For the researcher half, as soon as we’ve a venture settlement, I then pull a staff collectively and begin executing and dealing on that know-how for the shopper.

My analysis falls in greater know-how readiness stage (TRL) ranges. All the pieces I do with BOTTLE seems to be at DOE-funded applied sciences with a TRL of perhaps 3. I take these to strategic companions and say, with this a lot cash we might get you as much as TRL 6, pre-pilot stage, and we will help you deploy and commercialize.

Now we have a various portfolio of commercial partnerships, all various kinds of tasks with some hitting the deployment section. We’re additionally spinning off startup firms. We’re extremely centered on making these plastic applied sciences part of the U.S. economic system as rapidly as potential.

Talking of these partnerships, I’ve heard that you simply’re an incredible recruiter of BOTTLE business companions. Are you able to share with us any secret sauce in your success?

It’s not one thing scientists at all times love to listen to, however you do should be personable to get these firms to need to speak to you. As well as, I’ve the backing of NREL and all the nice applied sciences and status that comes with this group. However I additionally assume an enormous a part of that is that I’m brutally clear and sincere with these firms. I’m very sensible with them and upfront with what’s potential. I additionally discuss prices straight away in order that they’re not shocked and shocked later. I feel firms recognize this transparency.

Additionally, the mannequin we’ve adopted in BOTTLE, which I alluded to earlier than, is that after executing that settlement, I don’t disappear. I stay their level particular person. I lead the venture and I mentor the researchers and the postdocs, and I write the papers and I make the shows. I feel a constant line of communication with the person who constructed up this belief with them is one thing they’ve actually come to worth. And I actually recognize it.

BOTTLE has been up and working for a bit. What are some huge challenges you’ve overcome?

At BOTTLE we’ve two challenges taking place in tandem. One is find out how to recycle at this time’s waste as effectively as potential with the very best financial profit and the bottom environmental footprint. The opposite is find out how to rethink waste as a result of the plastics used at this time had been by no means designed to disintegrate. That is redesigning and making new supplies for the longer term which might be extra inherently recyclable by design, biocompatible, biobased, and probably biodegradable.

At first, we pitched firms on how they might redesign their materials and packaging in a sustainable manner. The businesses weren’t receptive. They had been focused on simply recycling their plastic trash at this time. I do assume that the true resolution is popping it off on the faucet by way of redesign relatively than simply maintain making as a lot as we’re doing now the identical precise manner and hoping a market evolves to recycle it.

So how did you persuade these firms to work on redesigning their plastics?

Once we found that we might redesign these merchandise at value or barely above, that’s when it shifted, and extra firms began listening. Our first huge win we had was with The North Face, who’s funding a venture to switch the present polyester fiber used of their attire gear with a biobased polyester that will likely be simply as sturdy however has a biodegradation pathway.

And that’s not as a result of we wish clothes to biodegrade. Round 46% of microplastics within the setting come from plastic fibers which might be shed throughout garments washing. As a substitute of determining find out how to cease all shedding as a result of individuals aren’t going to cease washing their garments, we pitched the corporate on redesigning their materials to be pure, biocompatible, and never persist within the setting for 400 years.

OK, one final query. For those who had been queen for a day and had limitless energy to make one change on the planet, what wouldn’t it be?

There are these little plastic packages that maintain a small serving of mustard or ketchup for instance. These sachet packets are essentially the most over engineered supplies on the planet with one thing like eight totally different layers of utterly various kinds of polymers or metals and are unrecyclable. In locations like Indonesia and the Philippines these little sachets make up practically 50% of their waste streams. So, I’d make a recycling economic system infrastructure for these sachet packets primarily based on materials that’s recyclable and extremely desired.

Study extra about NREL’s bioenergy analysis and BOTTLE options to mitigate plastic waste air pollution.

Courtesy of NREL. By Justin Rickard