Shining a light on the creation of bio-plastic

27 November, 2014

Shining a light on the creation of bio-plastic

University of Waikato engineering graduate Jim Bier is feeling enlightened, following a recent trip to Japan to attend the 2014 Cheiron School.

The school gave Dr Bier the chance to learn more about a type of radiation light which can be useful in the creation of bio-derived materials such as thermoplastic.

Dr Bier works as a research and development scientist at Aduro Biopolymers, a spin-off company of WaikatoLink Limited, the commercialisation and technology transfer company of the University of Waikato.

His role involves research and product development to produce useful products from Novatein®, a protein based thermoplastic invented at the University of Waikato which he studied during a PhD using synchrotron radiation. Novatein® is made from bloodmeal which is a by-product of the red meat and poultry industries.

“A synchrotron light source facility typically has a number of different ‘beamlines’ using the intense light generated in different ways for different kinds of experiments, many of which are useful in materials science. One of the main reasons for attending the school was to find out more about how other beamlines and techniques that we have not previously utilised will be helpful with understanding and improving Novatein® and other bio-derived materials,” says Dr Bier.

The 2014 Cheiron School was held in Hyogo, Japan and included a full-on 10-day programme covering lectures, demonstrations, panel discussions and beamline practical workshops.

“A particular highlight for me was one of the beamline practical workshops, using the intense light from the Synchrotron to create a microbeam which could be used to see how the pattern of scattered X-rays from a solid protein rich material varies across a sample on the micrometer scale. These scattering patterns then provide information on how the structure and orientation of polymer chains can vary in a sample over this scale.”

New Zealand was allocated up to six spaces at the school. Dr Bier’s application was assessed by the Royal Society of New Zealand’s New Zealand Synchrotron Group Ltd and he was selected to attend, supported by funding from the Asia-Oceania Forum for Synchrotron Radiation Research (AOFSRR).

ENDS

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