Two University of Wisconsin-Platteville professors, Dr. John Obielodan and Dr. Joseph Wu, recently received a patent from WiSys for their project, “Bio-Composite Materials For 3D Printing Using Milk Proteins.” This biodegradable thermoplastic aligns with industry standards and is created from casein, a milk protein, and plant-derived PLA filament.
When asked what inspired him to pursue this research, Obielodan shared, “During COVID, there was global supply chain interruption. That left a lot of problems for many industries, and the dairy industry was badly hit. Everything was on lockdown and vehicles could not move … they could not deliver their products. There was a lot of dumping of milk, this was a big economic waste. Would it be possible to limit or mitigate the waste resulting from that situation?”
As it turns out, there was. Milk contains two primary proteins, casein and whey. The researchers found that these proteins have “functional groups,” groups of atoms in a molecule that interact in predictable ways, that appeared similar to those in some plastics. This sparked the question: Could these proteins be used to create plastic? Ultimately, they moved forward with the protein casein for their research.
The project involved years of research and development and several student researchers. It was provided approximately $180,000 of funding by the Dairy Innovation Hub, a state-funded organization that provides support to UW-Madsion, Platteville, and River Falls campuses in their efforts to improve the dairy community. UW-Platteville students from both the Chemistry and Engineering departments were given the opportunity to earn a wage as well as unique research experience.
If commercialized, this invention could prove to be a pioneer in sustainable engineering. Simultaneously reducing the waste of excess dairy and creating a biodegradable product could prove to be an effective system in the future. Still, the dairy farmers remain the heart of the matter. When asked how he wanted to see this technique used in the future, Wu explained, “First of all, I hope that our invention can help farmers. In the situation where there’s too much waste milk, hopefully we can create another stream of revenue. They don’t need to suffer total loss … they can actually sell this to a company that processes it to make 3D printing material. So that’s how I see the future, to help the farmers have more security.”
With the project a success, Obielodan and Wu await interested parties to take the next steps toward commercialization. The pair share the same sentiment regarding the future of the project. Wu stated, “This is a proof of concept. We gave the community an idea, and now they have room to explore.” In a separate interview, Obielodan seems to agree, saying, “We have already established what we want to establish, mainly that it is workable. We are open to industrial collaborators that want to take it further to commercialization. We are academics; unless we want to go into entrepreneurship, we are open to interested partners.”
The full patent application and project summary can be found on the WiSys website.