"Students can apply this sustainable polymer research experience to guide their passions and careers in the future."

Plastic is everywhere. It can be found in a wide range of products that are invaluable to modern life, such as medical implants and car bumpers, bike helmets and clothing, though its ubiquity isn't entirely by design. Plastic pollution has permeated every location on the planet. Such is the duality of plastic — it is as necessary as it is pernicious.

However, Professor Kat Wakabayashi, chemical engineering, is one of the researchers devising sustainable solutions to the polymer that has come to define the last century.

"I've been working with bioplastics since I got to Bucknell in 2007," says Wakabayashi, who earned degrees in chemical and materials engineering from Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania before completing postdoctoral research in sustainable polymer processing at Northwestern University.

The opportunity to continue his research while teaching the next generation of engineers led him to Bucknell's Department of Chemical Engineering, where, along with his students, he has been working with a plastic called polylactic acid (PLA). 

"Bioplastics offer the potential to develop sustainable solutions that address environmental concerns related to petroleum-based plastics," he says. "PLA is of great interest because it's renewable and biodegradable."

Unlike plastics derived from fossil fuels, such as polyethylene and polypropylene, bioplastics describe a broad class of materials that are produced from biomass sources like starches, sugars, lipids and microorganisms. "One challenge with PLA is that it's not always as consistent or as controllable as conventional plastics, so for the last 15 years our lab has been trying to get to the root of how to make it more consistent," he says

To produce a better bioplastic, Wakabayashi and his students use commercial PLA pellets, which are roughly the size of Nerds candy. They then mix the pellets with bio-based cellulose fibers from natural resources. In the lab, they compound these cellulose fibers with PLA to create a stronger, more reliable material that also resists softening at low temperatures. 

"Along with making a more consistent PLA, our lab has also been observing how bioplastics actually degrade," says Wakabayashi. "I think it's important to be scientifically responsible, not just making stuff out of bioplastics and claiming to be green or sustainable, but following the material all the way to the grave."

In collaboration with the Bucknell Farm, Wakabyashi and his students have developed a custom soil degradation apparatus in-house to evaluate the biodegradability of their PLA composite materials. The samples are molded in poker chip-sized discs, which are then imaged, weighed, buried in soil, and examined again after a period of weeks. 

Bucknell's commitment to both cutting-edge research and undergraduate education have provided the ideal environment for Wakabyashi to foster student collaboration and guide young engineers in exploring innovative solutions to real-world problems. "Students can apply this sustainable polymer research experience to guide their passions and careers in the future," he says.