NEREID BIO

Nereid Biomaterials is a team of material scientists, microbiologists, and oceanographers working across industry, academia, and government to develop biodegradable materials for the ocean. We are a tech transfer project in the R&D phase and currently supported by the National Science Foundation's Convergence Accelerator program... Our biomaterials are proven to be ocean-degradable, amenable to 3D printing and injection molding, and prototyped in ocean sensors, fishing traps, and more. Our material base is polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), a compound naturally made by bacteria and plants that many marine bacteria can fully degrade to carbon dioxide and water, without the creation of microplastics or other harmful byproducts. In addition to formulations with a range of degradation rates and shelf lives, we are pioneering innovative "living materials" embedded with naturally-occurring PHB-degrading bacteria that can begin to degrade the material on contact with seawater. Our materials are..