News Release

Spero Renewables signs $2 million DOE agreement to advance 'wood-based' plastic technology

Plastic-made surplus wood shown to be as strong as steel but light weight and more easily recyclable.

Business Announcement

Purdue University

Spero’s form of plastic, thermoset plastics come from renewable sources, which are easily molded, strengthen when heated, provide strong insulation and are also resistant to corrosion and chemicals. They have wide applications from the automotive to electronic industry.

These types of plastics are currently used for epoxies, silicone products and polyurethane products.

“With this new DOE joint cooperative agreement, we are currently looking toward identifying the best fit application to roll the technology out into before implementing SperoSet into broader high-performance plastics markets,” Klein said.

Spero developed related technologies while based in the Purdue Research Park of West Lafayette, Indiana, that were further advanced at the University of California, Santa Barbara.  The company licensed a technology developed at Purdue University through the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization when Spero was formed in 2013. For more information on licensing a Purdue innovation, contact the Office of Technology Commercialization at otcip@prf.org.

About Spero Renewables

Spero Renewables LLC is a green chemistry company that develops technologies for plant-based alternatives to products manufactured with petrochemicals. Spero utilizes its proprietary technology to unlock the resources of readily available biomass for making natural and environmentally friendly products. Spero was founded in 2013 at Purdue University by Mahdi Abu-Omar, who now is the Mellichamp Professor of Green Chemistry at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Source: Ian Klein, ian@sperorenewables.com

Media contact: Cynthia Sequin, Purdue Research Foundation, casequin@prf.org


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