Biomimicry New England

John continues, “One of the mechanisms for Alzheimer’s is believed to be the clumping up of proteins in the brain with metals. At the Warner Babcock Institute, we have invented a class of molecules that both break up these clumps and prevent more from forming. One of the fundamental mechanisms found in nature is how things stick together and break apart.”

With a handful of asphalt crumbling in his hand, John smiles and adds, “From this perspective, we are really doing the same thing with these stones and gravel that

make up asphalt pavement.”

Although to some, “green chemistry” might sound like a trendy advertising catch-phrase for a household cleaning product, the name actually describes the science of eliminating hazardous substances during the development of new materials.

When asked to elaborate about the process of green chemistry, John becomes even more serious. “The field of chemistry, as currently taught and practiced,”

“We have spent so much time applying the reductionist approach, separating everything into discrete parts, cataloging and articulating differences – we often lose sight of how many functions and properties in nature share commonality.”

he explains, “is essentially devoid of any information or training as to what sorts of structures and components make molecules potentially hazardous to human health and the environment. You’ll be hard pressed to find any university degree program in chemistry that offers—let alone requires—students to take any course work in toxicity or environmental mechanisms”.

A Biomimetic Process

John, both individually and together with his team of scientists at Warner Babcock, has pioneered a number of important green chemistry discoveries. John attributes this achievement to the Institute’s unique perspective: instead of narrowly working and specializing within a single field, John and his team take a more over-arching approach that bridges the gaps between different disciplines.

John Warner, cofounder of Warner Babcock Institute

April 2015

“We must always make sure that the chemistry we use – the building blocks that we create our products with - whether they are biomimetic or not – are nontoxic and environmentally benign.

Using nature as a model, they conscientiously ignore the lines and boundaries that traditionally have been set by academia and practice. Instead, John’s biomimetic approach enables him and his team to solve complex problems in unexpected, novel ways. As he explains it, “What’s important to our success is that we refuse to be hamstrung by traditional boundaries. And what’s interesting from a biomimetic perspective is that there are no boundaries.”

John continues: “We must always make sure that the chemistry we use to create the building blocks of our products—biomimetic or not—is nontoxic and environmentally benign. If the chemists creating these materials have no training in how to analyze and ensure that, it’s an almost impossible task.”

Solving Asphalt

The advanced asphalt product that has been developed by John and his team is called “Delta-S,” and it is being commercialized by the Warner-Babcock spin-out, Collaborative Aggregates, LLC (headed by James M. Babcock). This product, as well as the potential Alzheimer’s drug and several other inventions, are the result of John’s and the Institute’s open-minded, boundary-free approach. At Warner-Babcock, it is not uncommon to see a scientist working with a construction material like pavement one minute, and then a possible pharmaceutical the next. You might also see a scientist focused on a particular field, but asking for help from colleagues in other disciplines.

John Warner is a great storyteller, and it is mesmerizing to listen to him explain the scientific underpinnings and societal benefits behind these sorts of inventions.

“Asphalt is manufactured from petroleum. Every time we need more roads, we need to use new oil from the ground to make new asphalt for pavement. Once combined with aggregate and exposed to the sun, asphalt becomes very brittle and cannot be recycled easily. Old asphalt can be re-used, but only as 10-15% of the new pavement, and only when paved at high temperatures.”

Once John and his research team started thinking about roads as one of the most commonly used public services, they realized they had an amazing potential application for green chemistry. If asphalt became increasingly brittle and unable to be recycled as it was exposed to light and the elements over time, could John and his team create a way to “revive” or “rejuvenate” old asphalt so that it could be recycled?

The asphalt contained the new additive and 50% recycled material, up from the usual 10-15%.

John Warner’s Driveway

After a series of brainstorming sessions, chemical iterations, and practical tests, John and his team took their concept from a science-fair project to a real-world non-toxic, non-petroleum-based, industrial asphalt additive: Delta-S.

Several independent laboratories and testing facilities confirmed that, when added to the asphalt-mixing process, Delta-S helps incorporate greater amounts of recycled asphalt pavement and/or shingles; more than the current practice with purely petroleum-based products. In several of the test applications of Delta-S, over 60% of the pavement was comprised of recycled content.

As the initial real-world test of this new chemistry, John brought the experiment home to his own driveway—with his family’s permission, of course. “My driveway was available,” John says, “so we decided to lay down a mix containing our new additive, Delta-S, along with 50% recycled material, up from the usual 10-15%.”

It was 17 degrees Fahrenheit when the workers arrived with 30 tons of asphalt. “They were laughing,” John remembers. “They were saying, ‘John, this can’t be done with that amount of recycled material, especially at this temperature! No way!’”

The workers were convinced that because of the quantity of recycled material and the

Biomimicry New England

low ambient temperature, the asphalt would roll out of the truck like a big boulder rather than pouring out smoothly.

“When they opened it up and it poured out, however, everyone (but me and my team) was fairly stunned,” John said. “It worked really well! Basically, our chemistry not only softened the asphalt, making it possible for workers to easily pave with it, but also caused the mixture to compact and harden perfectly without any ongoing softening. Now, over a year later, the driveway still looks and performs like new.”

Biomimicry at the Molecular Level

John likes to think of this asphalt success at the molecular level. Gesticulating exuberantly, John exclaims, “Every static material contains molecules that are actually vibrating with kinetic energy. These molecules are undulating, expanding, contracting, and wiggling all over the place. When those molecules interact with other molecules, it is an associative collaboration. Molecular choreography! Biomimicry at a molecular level.”

The sense of optimism and enthusiasm is contagious. John and his team are studying neurological diseases and inventing their cures while their feet are firmly on the ground…on environmentally benign pavement.

We can only wonder: what’s next?

April 2015

To learn more from John Warner about Green Chemistry, watch his talk at the 2014 Bioneers conference October 2014.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL1zbAJIaDI&app=desktophttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL1zbAJIaDI&app=desktop

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