Novomer touts CO2-to-plastic technology

A US company aiming to turn carbon dioxide into plastic has released its first commercial product.

Ithaca, NY-based Novomer has confirmed that it is shipping NB-180, a binding agent made from 40 per cent carbon dioxide.

The chemical, known as a sacrificial binder, is designed to disappear almost entirely after it is used. When heated to 180 degrees centigrade, NB-180 burns away, but binds together the materials to which it is applied. Novomer’s customers are expected to use it during their manufacturing process.

Thanks to the use of a zinc-based catalyst that binds the carbon dioxide together with another chemical, the product leaves less than one part per million of ash residue, said Fox Holt, product manager for NB-180 at Novomer.

He added that the company now wants to explore growing markets with the chemical and will be targeting nano- and micro-scale manufacturers which should find its low residue useful for producing purer materials. "These technologies need extra performance and extra precision to ensure they can compete with existing technologies," Holt added. "Fuel cells, for example, are a big application – a big manufacturing space where we can help improve performance."

As a new entrant into the market, Novomer will compete with incumbent Empower Materials, which produces a sacrificial binder called QPAC. This product also uses large amounts of CO2. However, Empower’s binder is officially rated with a 9ppm ash residue.

Peter Ferraro, business development director at Empower, believes that the real residue left behind is far less, but argues that the company has not felt the need to measure its residue more accurately.

Novomer has said that it eventually wants to use its catalyst to produce other plastics, again using CO2 as a significant proportion of its feedstock.

The company is the latest in a line of firms looking at turning CO2 into commercial products – a scenario that could bolster the economic case for expensive carbon capture systems.

Researchers at Newcastle University in the UK recently announced they were working on converting waste carbon dioxide into chemical compounds known as cyclic carbonates that can be used in biodegradable plastic bags, paint and solvents, while German industrial giant Bayer is similarly looking at turning CO2 into polycarbonate plastics.

Meanwhile, Klaus Lackner, the University of Colombia physicist behind the high-profile project to develop carbon scrubbing technology, has talked about turning the captured CO2 into dry ice.