Chemistry technology

Development of benign cascade extractive biorefinery for converting agri-food side streams into high-value polyphenolic bioactives and functional fibres for pharma, cosmeceuticals, nutraceuticals and food products. The PHENOLEXA product has the objective to unlock the potential of polyphenols-rich agri-side streams (olive, grape shoots and leaves, chicory, and onion residues) to procure bioactive compounds of high value via the development of cascade smart biorefinery which combines pretreatment of the biomass with benign environmentally friendly green solvents extraction technology. According to Eurostat, the agricultural sector is the biggest producer of the residual biomass in Europe, generating annually approximately 400 [...]

Improved bio-inocula and living mulching technologies for integrated management of horticultural crops. Nowadays, the use of bioinocula in commercial agriculture sector is hindered by several factors, among them insufficient knowledge of microbial ecology and formulation efficiency, as well as less farmers awareness of application technology and requirements under different cropping systems. The project BioHortiTech has the objective to improve the knowledge on ecological dynamics of bioinocula for plant protection and nutrition, in both integrated and organic farming systems with living mulching under contrasting environmental and climatic conditions. Within the project, which counts with the participation of [...]

Integrated, innovative and viable solutions to reduce the use of copper and its environmental impact in SUDOE region vineyards. The use of phytosanitary products derived from copper to prevent diseases in organic and conventional viticulture causes serious environmental problems. According to the European Union, vineyards concentrate the highest amount of copper in soils. In this sense, the COPPERPLACE project develops and validates a series of integrated, innovative, and viable solutions to reduce the use of copper and its environmental impact in vineyards. The solutions promoted within the project will be transferable and durable to allow that the [...]

New microcapsules with perfumes for detergency and cleaning products that do not generate microplastics. The GreenCAP project pursues to improve the leadership and excellence of the Spanish company in the development of detergents and cleaning products that do not generate microplastics. In recent years, the application of microcapsules has spread widely in sectors as different as food, medical, cosmetic or textile due to the benefits that these systems present, with respect to the use of active compounds without encapsulation. However, current capsules contain non-degradable polymers and are defined as generating microplastics. This problem also affects the [...]

Radical innovations to recover minerals and metals from seawater desalination brines. The SEA4VALUE project, coordinated by Eurecat, has the objective to develop a Multi-mineral Modular Brine Mining Process (MMBMP) for the recovery of valuable metals and minerals from brines produced in sea-water desalination plants (SWDP). The innovation promoted by the project improves the economic feasibility of well-established concentration and crystallisation processes (capacitive deionisation, membrane crystallisation, bipolar electrodialysis, multi-effect distillation) while performing research on innovative materials to develop the next generation separation processes enabling the production of raw materials from seawater brines. Eurecat, which participates to the [...]

Development of a photoelectrocatalytic tandem reactor (TPER) to manufacture chemical products from renewable energies based on CO2, water and sunlight, integrating the capture and conversion of CO2 in a single dispositive. The SunCoChem project, led by Eurecat, aims to provide the chemical industry with an alternative to produce oxo-chemicals without using raw materials derived from carbon or oil. Based on the single-unit CO2 capture and conversion architecture to design a self-sufficient device, SunCoChem's innovation manages to reduce costs, reduce CO2 emissions and improve the efficiency of converting energy from sunlight to chemicals. In addition, the project-driven [...]

New microcapsules with antimicrobial and disinfectant effects for the sanitation of high-concurrency spaces. The Microesenci project investigates, develops and validates new microcapsules, which contain essential oils, with the objective to reduce the risks of infection in different risk situations and exposure spaces for vulnerable people, such as hospitals, elderly’s centres or collective transports. In addition, the polymers used in the microcapsules developed within the project are biodegradable and comply with the environmental policies of the European Union and the United States governments. Microencapsulation is a technology that allows applying active ingredients to different types of materials, [...]

Light olefins and aromatics using light hydrocarbons (C1, C3 and C4) by implementing new procedures, involving innovative catalysts synthesis methodologies and novel reactor design and processing, demonstrating their improvement in sustainability and economic scalability in existing industrial processes. BiZeolCat project shares the vision of an innovative and sustainable economy based on circular economy principles as making efficient use of resource. Eurecat is in charge of the coordination of BiZeolCat project, leading the tasks related to catalyst synthesis, characterization and reaction mechanism, and takes part in catalytic and optimization tests. On the other hand Eurecat has a [...]