高吸水性聚合物(SAP)是尿裤和卫生巾的原材料。这些重化学物质吸收和保留血液和尿液等体液的重量达到其原始重量的数百倍。

 

SAPs revolutionised personal care when they hit the personal hygiene market in the early 1980s. Now, the chemical industry must mount a new wave of innovation, this time targeted at improving product sustainability. Like most polymers, SAPs are not renewable or biodegradable as their basic chemicals are derived from oil. Because single-use applications are common, these non-renewable SAPs contribute massively to air and water pollution. In the US, around 12 billion sanitary pads are disposed of every year while in the UK, diapers account for 2-3 percent of household waste.

 

sap在20世纪80年代初进入个人卫生用品市场时，彻底改变了个人护理产品市场。现在，化工行业必须掀起新一轮的创新浪潮，这次的目标是提高产品的可持续性。与大多数聚合物一样，sap是不能可再生或可生物降解的，因为它们的基本化学成分来自石油。由于一次性应用很普遍，这些不可再生的sap严重污染了空气和水污染。在美国，每年大约有120亿块卫生巾被丢弃，而在英国，尿布占家庭垃圾的2- 3%。

 

For the last two decades, many companies have tried to lower the carbon footprint of SAP hygiene items with efficiency measures such as decreasing product weight. However, a wholesale shift to biobased SAPs is required to achieve fully renewable, biodegradable, and low carbon items. 

 

在过去的二十年里，很多公司一直试图通过降低产品重量等效率措施来降低SAP卫生用品的碳足迹。然而，为了实现完全可再生、可生物降解和低碳产品，需要大规模转向生物基sap。

 

One 2013 study in the International Journal of Life Cycle Assessments suggested that SAPs in disposable diapers contribute most of the product’s total environmental burden, even though absorbents comprise only a fraction of its total weight.  It also found that diapers made from a combination of petrochemical and biobased chemicals brought environmental benefits, including for human toxicity, freshwater eutrophication, and marine ecotoxicity. 

 

2013年发表在《国际生命周期评估杂志》(International Journal of Life Cycle Assessments)上的一项研究表明，一次性纸尿裤中的sap占了该产品总环境负担的大部分，尽管吸收剂只占其总重量的一小部分。研究还发现，由石化和生物基化学品组合制成的纸尿裤带来了环境效益，包括对人体的毒性、淡水富营养化和海洋生态毒性。

 

Personal hygiene is one application where the physical attributes of a product’s active chemicals are non-negotiable. To capture the absorbents market, renewable SAPs must match or exceed fossil-fuel derived equivalents on performance. Apart from high absorption, the biobased SAP must retain its structure after swelling, have a low soluble content, low price, and be pH neutral upon absorption. Other requirements are that it should be odourless, colourless, and nontoxic for hygiene and comfort.  

 

个人卫生用品是一个其产品的活性化学物质的物理属性不可协商的应用领域。为了占领吸收剂市场，可再生SAP必须在性能上达到或超过化石燃料衍生的等效SAP。除了高吸收率外，生物基SAP在膨胀后必须保持其结构，可溶性含量低，价格低，吸收时pH为中性。其他要求是，它应该是无味，无色，无毒的卫生和舒适。

 

Global chemicals companies leading on biobased SAP  

全球化学品公司在生物基SAP领域处于领先地位的：

 

Some major chemicals companies have entered the biobased SAP space over the last few years. These large producers have focused on creating plant-based versions of common base materials for SAP manufacture, such as acrylic acid. One of the most established companies to turn towards biobased SAPs is Nippon Shokubai’s Europe subsidiary, a long-time specialist in conventional SAP and petrochemical acrylic acid manufacture. 

 

在过去的几年里，一些主要的化学公司已经进入了生物基SAP领域。这些大型生产商专注于为SAP制造常见基础材料(如丙烯酸)创造基于植物的版本。日本Nippon公司的欧洲子公司是转向生物基SAP的最成熟的公司之一，该公司长期以来一直是传统SAP和石化丙烯酸生产的专家。

 

In 2021, Nippon Shokubai Europe advanced its biobased product line by obtaining certification from the ISCC for a bio-based propylene, the substance that goes into making acrylic acid. Their renewable propylene is made from glycerol, commonly sourced from vegetable oils. Nippon Shokubai Europe’s move to biobased acrylic acid forms part of the company’s overarching strategy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. It is now developing a biodegradable and recyclable SAP.

 

2021年，日本Nippon欧洲公司通过获得ISCC对生物基丙烯(用于制造丙烯酸的物质)的认证，推进了其生物基产品线。他们的可再生丙烯是由甘油制成的，通常来源于植物油。Nippon Shokubai Europe向生物基丙烯酸的转变是该公司到2050年实现碳中和总体战略的一部分。该公司目前正在开发一种可生物降解和可回收的SAP 。

 

Archer Daniels Midland is another global company involved in biobased SAP development. In the early 2000s, the company developed and patented a method for using starch to produce a high-quality SAP. In September 2019, LG Chem and Archer Daniels Midlands announced a joint development agreement to create a bio-based acrylic acid, the leading polymer ingredient in SAP manufacture. The deal will see biotech company AGM supply biobased components to LG Chem, part of LG Chem’s pivot towards the bioplastics segment.  

 

Archer Daniels Midland是另一家从事生物基SAP开发的国际公司。在21世纪初，该公司开发了一种使用淀粉生产高质量SAP的方法并获得了专利。2019年9月，LG化学和Archer Daniels Midlands宣布了一项联合开发协议，以生产生物基丙烯酸，这是SAP制造的主要聚合物成分。根据该协议，生物技术公司AGM将向LG化学供应生物基材料，这是LG化学转向生物塑料领域的一部分。

 

A new generation of biobased SAPs hit the market

新一代生物基sap进入市场

 

Some companies have been working with starch and glycerol but green chemicals startups are turning to more unusual feedstocks for biobased polymers requires in SAPs. These second-generation feedstocks and materials tend to offer better product biodegradability on top of renewability.

 

有些公司一直在与淀粉和甘油合作，但绿色化学品初创公司正在转向更不寻常的原料，以满足sap所需的生物基聚合物。这些第二代原料和材料倾向于在可再生的基础上提供更好的产品生物降解性。

 

Ecovia Renewables, a University of Michigan spinoff founded 2014, is pioneering SAP fermentation. Unlike most SAPs on the market, Ecovia’s renewable product is not made from a bio-based acrylic acid. The company uses polyglutamic acid instead, an organic chemical occurs naturally in the silken threads of natto, a fermented soy-based food that is popular in Japan. Ecovia’s ferments polyglutamic acid using the company’s suite of non-GMO microbes. The SAP made from this material has a range of applications. 

 

Ecovia Renewables是密歇根大学(University of Michigan) 2014年的衍生公司，是SAP发酵的先驱。与市场上的大多数sap不同，Ecovia的可再生产品不是由生物基丙烯酸制成的。该公司使用聚谷氨酸代替，这是一种有机化学物质，天然存在于纳豆的丝中，纳豆是一种在日本很受欢迎的发酵大豆食品。Ecovia公司使用该公司的非转基因微生物组合来发酵聚谷氨酸。由这种材料制成的SAP具有广泛的应用。

 

Algae is another second-generation SAP feedstock just starting to enter the market. Students at the University of Utah in 2017 developed a sanitary towel containing an brown algae-based SAP. The entire product breaks down within weeks to months. SHERO’s product is a good example of how mixing biomaterials can enhance the performance capabilities of personal hygiene products. In their product, the superabsorbent interior is finished with a final outer layer made from corn that traps moisture inside and prevents leakage. The students were targeting the NGO sector and wanted a low-cost product that could be made easily by communities in developing countries. However, the group plan to sell the product in the US to eco-conscious consumers. SHERO’s biobased sanitary towel is a rare example of a high demand product equally placed to serve both social and environmental goals. 

 

藻类是另一种刚刚进入市场的第二代SAP原料。2017年，犹他大学的学生开发了一种含有褐藻SAP的卫生巾，整个产品在几周到几个月内就会分解。SHERO的产品是混合生物材料如何提高个人卫生产品性能的一个很好的例子。在他们的产品中，高吸水性芯体是由玉米制成的一层材料包裹而成，它可以吸收液体并防止泄漏。学生们瞄准了非政府组织部门，想要一种低成本的产品，可以很容易地在发展中国家的社区生产。然而，该集团计划在美国向有环保意识的消费者销售该产品。SHERO的生物基卫生巾是一种罕见的高需求产品，同时服务于社会和环境目标。

 

Bamboo is another candidate for biobased SAP feedstocks which is becoming increasingly popular as a sustainable material. The plant grows back so quickly that cultivated bamboo does not lose much carbon capture potential even if regularly harvested. In 2022, Daye launched an anti-bacterial pad containing a sustainable bamboo absorbent core. It is fully compostable in natural conditions. Like SHERO’s product, its pad combines a biobased SAP with a corn-based material to replace the non-recyclable plastic bodies that make up conventional sanitary items. 

 

竹子是生物基SAP原料的另一个候选材料，作为一种可持续材料越来越受欢迎。这种植物长得很快，即使定期收获，栽培的竹子也不会失去太多的碳捕获潜力。2022年，Daye推出了一款含有可持续竹材吸收芯的抗菌卫生巾。它在自然条件下是完全可堆肥的。像SHERO的产品一样，它的卫生巾结合了生物基SAP和玉米基材料，以取代用于传统卫生用品的不可回收塑料体。

 

Many more biological substances can be turned into SAPs. Researchers in Advanced Sustainable Systems reported that superabsorbent particles from wheat gluten protein are capable of swelling 4000 % in water and 60% in saline solution, a tenfold performance increase compared to an existing gluten-based materials. It retains as much as 80 percent of the absorbed water, higher than commercial fossil-based SAPs.

 

更多的生物物质可以转化为sap。Advanced Sustainable Systems的研究人员报告说，来自小麦面筋蛋白的高吸水性颗粒能够在水中膨胀4000 %，在盐水溶液中膨胀60%，与现有的面筋基材料相比，性能提高了10倍。它保留了高达80%的吸收水分，高于商业化石基sap。

 

Breakthrough in in scaled chitosan and cellulose-based SAPs would be a huge win for the biobased industry. Chitosan is found in shell waste from the seafood industry and cellulose is the most abundant organic compound in nature. The Indian Institute of technology in Madras has already demonstrated a biodegradable SAP using chitosan from seafood waste and citric acid.[1] In 2022, Indian researchers once again advanced the possibilities for biobased SAP by creating a superabsorbent crosslinked hydrogel using cellulose from water hyacinth. 

 

壳聚糖和纤维素基sap的突破将是生物基工业的巨大胜利。壳聚糖是在海产业的贝壳废料中发现的，而纤维素是自然界中含量最丰富的有机化合物。位于马德拉斯的印度理工学院已经展示了一种可生物降解的SAP，它使用了从海鲜废料和柠檬酸中提取的壳聚糖。[1]2022年，印度研究人员利用水葫芦中的纤维素制造了一种高吸水性交联水凝胶，再次提高了生物基SAP的可能性。

 

 

SAPS are one of the most important consumer chemical classes and are foundational to the global personal hygiene industry. As such, they offer a huge commercial opportunity for bio-enterprises. In 2020, 2.8 million tonnes of SAPs (both biobased and petrochemical) went on the market, with the US and China accounting for 45 percent of global sales in the product. By 2023, total production is expected to go above 3.1 million. The market for biodegradable SAPs is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8 percent between 2022 and 2030. 

 

SAPS是最重要的消费化学品类别之一，是全球个人卫生用品行业的基础材料。因此，它们为生物企业提供了巨大的商业机会。2020年，280万吨sap(包括生物基和石化)进入市场，其中美国和中国占该产品全球销量的45%。到2023年，总产量预计将超过310万。预计2022年至2030年期间，可生物降解的sap市场将以8%的复合年增长率增长。

 

Market prospects are favourable for biobased personal care. Consumers are increasingly sensitive to the environmental impacts of personal care items while the broader biobased polymer market has also been on an upward trajectory. In 2020, for the first time in years, the compound annual growth rate for bio-based polymers was 8 percent, around four points higher than overall growth for polymers. 

 

生物基个人护理产品的市场前景良好。消费者对个人护理用品对环境的影响越来越敏感，而更广泛的生物基聚合物市场也一直处于上升趋势。2020年，生物基聚合物的复合年增长率多年来首次达到8%，比聚合物的总体增长率高出约4个百分点。

 

文章来自公众号：博卫传媒