1. Personal Perspective on Bio-Based Materials Thomas F. Garrison, PhD

2. Why do I research bio-based materials? How does my research contribute to sustainability? What are the future opportunities for bio-based materials?

3. Why do I research bio-based materials? Began with an undergraduate course titled “Biotechnology for Crop Improvement”… Desire to develop value added products from agricultural materials to benefit farmers Personal satisfaction from conducting applied research

4. Petroleum-based Solvents and Feedstock Waterborne Vegetable Oil-Based

5. Applications where bio-based materials are already widely used: Traditional coating materials (i.e. alkyd resins) Thermoset plastics Fiber-reinforced composites

6. What are the future opportunities for bio-based materials? Bio-based thermoplastics Polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) Bio-based matrices for composite applications Green Chem., 2014, 16, 1700 Development of bio-based “drop-in” monomers and chemicals Recent U.S. DOE Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for Renewable Carbon Fibers

7. Final thoughts… Consumers expect performance of bio-based materials to be equal to or better than existing products Most consumers will not pay a premium for “bio” or “green” products Both techno-economics and Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) must make sense for bio-based products to be sustainable