NSF Convergence Accelerator Track I: Enhanced Biobased Textiles and Composites Via Microbially Produced Silk Proteins

The fashion industry is one of the biggest contributors to climate change, with estimated greenhouse gas emissions between 5-10% of all global emissions. This number exceeds that of other sectors of concern, such as aviation and shipping, and is expected to grow another 30% by 2030. Materials derived from crude oil and methane account for around two-thirds of all textiles.

These synthetic textiles have driven the growth of cheap, short-lived clothing associated with the “fast fashion”, fueling even higher consumption and emissions. This fast fashion business model accelerates a linear take-make-waste plastics economy, where virgin feedstock is predominantly used, and clothing are only worn a handful of times before being landfilled or incinerated.

Because most synthetic textiles are not biodegradable, increase of plastic pollution in the environment is an inevitable consequence of the fashion industry today. The goal of this project is to explore the fabrication of fossil-free biodegradable textiles and fibers that exhibit performance attributes suitable for replacing conventional materials in the fashion industry.

Such conventional materials include synthetic fibers, such as polyesters, polyurethanes, and nylons, as well as non-sustainable natural materials, such as leather. Specifically, this project will develop manufacturing processes for fabricating renewable fossil-free yarns, dyes, and leather-like fabrics that combine fungi/plant-derived biomass with artificial silk protein for enhanced performance in consumer textile applications.

This project will also explore the use of recombinant proteins and dyes that are produced by microbial upcycling of waste recalcitrant plastic, thus increasing the sustainability impact of the materials innovations. Non-academic collaborators will include industry and non-profit participants who will provide market and supply chain insight as well as materials design and processing expertise.

Technoeconomic analysis will help identify strategies for technology, market, business development that promote adoption by underserved customer bases, including Black, Hispanic, and low-income communities. This project will also develop outreach programs for K-12 students regarding sustainable fashion.

Most biomaterials development efforts to date primarily focus on a single biopolymer class. Nature, however, extensively leverages the synergy of different biomolecular classes to yield materials that exhibit almost paradoxical properties (e.g. stiff yet tough, strong yet extensible). This project will synthesize 100% fossil-free biomaterials that feature diverse classes of biomacromolecules.

Research efforts will focus on developing strategies for enhancing the properties of a cellulosic (bast fiber) or chitinaceous (mycelium) base material, which are strong and stiff but lack sufficient toughness and durability, with recombinantly engineered silk fibroin, which will contribute to material robustness. This project will also manufacture chromoprotein dyes as a biobased alternative to conventional textile dyes.

By developing new biocomposite materials and manufacturing processes, this project will help fill a knowledge gap in the rational design and fabrication of multi-component biomaterials with emergent properties. This project will also contribute technoeconomic, lifecycle, and disruptive potential analyses that will guide future biomaterials development, with particular focus on encouraging product adoption in underserved customer bases.

Phase 1 deliverables will include prototyped Silk-Enhanced Mycelium Leather, Hemp-Silk yarn, waste-derived chromoprotein dyes, associated manufacturing processes, and cost and disruptive technological change models. To support commercially relevant innovation, this project will involve cross-sector participation by various non-profit and industry partners.

Additionally, in collaboration with the RPI Engineering Ambassadors program, outreach experiences for K-12 students in the New York Capital Region will be developed to teach basic concepts in sustainable fashion.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.