Four partners, BRAIN, the Hohenstein Institute, Kelheim Fibres and rökona, have formed a new research alliance for the biotechnical production and modification of specialty alginates.

The aim of the alliance is to establish a sustainable microbial bioprocess for the production of specialised alginate components.

Objectives

The research alliance involves the biotechnology company BRAIN, the Hohenstein Institute for Innovation in Textiles, the leading manufacturer of specialty viscose fibres Kelheim Fibres, and the manufacturer of highly specialised materials for medical technology rökona Textilwerk. Parts of the research project will be co-financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

“Alongside our partners in the alliance, we want to build a high-quality bio-based matrix system and at the same time, a sustainable process in terms of the yield and techno-functionality of the biopolymers,” explained Dr Guido Meurer, Unit Head Microbial Production Technologies at BRAIN.

“BRAIN has been an active researcher of innovative, supportive, bioactive substances for use in medical products for several years. These substances are then introduced into appropriate biological matrices and ultimately into modern wound dressings.”

Purity and sustainability

The biopolymer products will be used in both topical and wound-phase specific dressings, as well as for application-specific modification of matrices in technical textiles.

Aside from high purity and more defined material properties of the biopolymer, the advantage of microbial production processes is an improvement in the environmental efficiency of products, companies report.

Variation and optimisation

The primary objective of BRAIN, alongside the Hohenstein Institute, is to develop microbial production organisms for application in industrial quantities of biopolymers in appropriate biofermentation processes on an industrial scale.

“Until now, the variation and optimisation of the material properties of alginate was either not possible at all, or only possible with immense effort. Through the use of biotechnology, a differentiated use of alginates is made possible in the specialised textile field for the first time,” said Dr Timo Hammer, Head of Research in the Department of Hygiene, Environment and Medicine at the Hohenstein Institute, and coordinator of the AlBioTex project.

Homogeneous biopolymers

The partners Kelheim Fibres and rökona Textilwerk participate in the alliance by providing access to high-quality, homogeneous biopolymers. The plan is to develop functional textiles with new properties and to use them in pilot processes.

“The production of high-quality and homogeneous biopolymers is crucial for our functional viscose fibres based on renewable resources. Various functionalities expand this range of innovative fibre properties for new high-tech applications,”  commented Walter Roggenstein, Head of Research and Development at Kelheim Fibres.

www.brain-biotech.de

www.hohenstein.de

www.kelheim-fibres.com