Coated Biodegradable Building Article
AssigneeThe Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University
InventorsWilfred V. Srubar, III, Sarah L. Billington
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Abstract
A composite material includes a matrix composed of a polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) polymer and a filler composed of particles dispersed in the matrix. The particles are composed of naturally-derived materials (e.g., ground bone meal or pumice powder), have a microporous microstructure, have a low hygroscopic expansion, and are less than 1.0 mm in size. Preferably, the matrix and the filler together constitute 100% by weight of the composite material, and at most 30% by volume of the composite material is consumed by the filler. The composite material may take the form of an anaerobically biodegradable article of manufacture such as a building material a coating of a building material or other article.
Claims7
A building article composed of a biodegradable composite structural building material coated with a layer of anaerobically biodegradable composite material;
- wherein the layer of anaerobically biodegradable composite coating material is composed of
- a polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) polymer matrix, and
- a filler composed of particles dispersed in the PHA polymer matrix;
- wherein the particles have pores with diameters less than 2 nm, have diameters within the range 0.1 mm to 1.0 mm, and have a hygroscopic expansion of at most 2%.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.