Menu
MapConnectionsTopicsBulgariaThe Night (K-TRIO)Marie Skłodowska-CurieFor studentsFor teachersMethodologySurprise me
HEDoctoral network2023–2027

D-Carbonize · Biocarbon based Polymers for Sustainable Material Development

Horizon Europe — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2023-03-01 → 2027-11-30
EU contribution
€3,168,331
Participants
16
Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-DN-JD

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Results in brief

Biocarbon based Polymers for Sustainable Material Development

Our societies heavily depends on the use of fossil fuels to supply us with an energy source and a feedstock for chemical synthesis. Ever since the industrial revolution, carbon emissions have risen culminating in the highest recorded CO2 concentration around 430 ppm, see https://keelingcurve.ucsd.edu/. As increasing carbon emissions are linked with adverse effects on our climate, scientists are increasingly looking for ways to combat this undesired scenario. One way of addressing the problem is to make use of renewable carbon sources for chemical synthesis and our energy needs, thereby directly and positively affecting carbon management associated with these activities. By overall lowering carbon emissions, a start can be made to better control the carbon cycle and preserve a sustainable future. The D-Carbonize project aims to design new chemical value chains that are built on the use of renewable carbon and to use it as a starting point for more sustainable materials with a significantly better carbon footprint. Further to this, the consortium entails the presence of experts in catalysis, a key enabling technology that will empower the design, optimization and implementation of new chemical processes that allow to fabricate new types of polymerizable monomers from biomass and carbon dioxide, their utilization in novel polymer synthesis and the use of the latter in forging more sustainable materials relevant to specific consumer goods. While catalysis will allow for the preparation of biocarbon based monomers, polymers and materials on one side, it also enables the efficient recycling of the atoms present in the final materials by breaking down these chemical structures into smaller molecules that can be reused. By transversally training the involved students active in D-Carbonize, they will collaborate with companies with interest in new and effective biomass use and recycling technologies, creating a synergistic approximation for the envisioned looping of our feedstock

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

D-Carbonize´s approach targets biocarbon recycling into valuable starting materials for the chemical/polymer industries and will primarily provide innovative low-carb catalysis solutions. The use of biocarbon is advantageous in many respects as it is renewable, generally abundant and non-toxic, and it represents easy-to-handle carbon reagents even on larger scale. Despite the lack of universal (catalytic) strategies available for biocarbon valorization into monomers and polymers, recent advances in catalysis science have demonstrated the engineering and use of new promising metal- and organo-catalysts with high potential to overcome these limitations, thereby creating the necessary feasibility to transform biocarbon into (1) fine chemicals such as carbonates, carbamates, carboxylic acids, and esters, (2) pharmaceutical synthons, and (3) biomass/CO2-based polymers. Thus, catalysis has already been shown to be a useful technology for biocarbon valorization but has been rarely used in the wider context of new and functional biocarbon based monomer/polymer development. The use of the latter helps to shape the future of functionalized poly-esters/carbonates/amides and their subsequent utilization in novel tailor-made and commercially relevant materials. Furthermore, this project will also explore depolymerization pathways to recycle the synthesized polymers obtaining new monomers and/or other added-value molecules that could re-enter the loop and be used in new polymers and materials. The network will recruit 12 doctoral candidates, who will be awarded double doctoral degrees by two universities in two different countries at the end of the training program. D-Carbonize brings together leading high-education institutions, research centers and companies to form an innovation community able to offer excellent research and training both in R&D and entrepreneurship.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • FUNDACIO INSTITUT CATALA D'INVESTIGACIO QUIMICA · TARRAGONACoordinatorSpain
  • AIMPLAS - ASOCIACION DE INVESTIGACION DE MATERIALES PLASTICOS Y CONEXAS · PaternaSpain
  • BASF SE · Ludwigshafen Am RheinGermany
  • CELABOR SCRL · HERVE CHAINEUXBelgium
  • CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS · ParisFrance
  • CO2 VALUE EUROPE AISBL · Bruxelles / BrusselBelgium
  • CORNING SAS · Samois Sur SeineFrance
  • POLYKEY POLYMERS SL · San SebastianSpain
  • RIJKSUNIVERSITEIT GRONINGEN · GroningenNetherlands
  • RUPRECHT-KARLS-UNIVERSITAET HEIDELBERG · HeidelbergGermany
  • TOTALENERGIES ONETECH BELGIUM · SENEFFEBelgium
  • UNIVERSIDAD DEL PAIS VASCO/ EUSKAL HERRIKO UNIBERTSITATEA · LeioaSpain
  • UNIVERSITAT POLITECNICA DE VALENCIA · ValenciaSpain
  • UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA I VIRGILI · TarragonaSpain
  • UNIVERSITE DE LIEGE · LIEGEBelgium
  • UNIVERSITE DE RENNES · RennesFrance

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union