2.5 million euros for public-private research towards more sustainable steel production

LIFT project (300 k€) for Pieter Bruijnincx and Florian Meirer, with consortium partner BASF

A circular economy needs non-edible biomass as a sustainable source of carbon for the production of materials we use every day. Lignin is a component of this second-generation biomass that has great potential for value creation, but its use also poses considerable technical challenges. In this project we will search for the relationship between lignin’s complex structure and its suitability for different material applications, in order to yield a rational, predictive choice for its ideal application.

LIFT projct (300 k€) for Bert Weckhuysen, with consortium partners Croda, VibSpec and BASF

Isostearic acid has numerous applications including cosmetics, foods and lubricating oils. Its commercial production is performed by hydrogenating the fatty acid iso-olein, which can be derived from vegetable oils. This process makes use of a combination of fixed catalyst materials, which catalyse the hydrogenation reaction and also remove any undesirable colour and odour components that might negatively influence the properties of the end product. In this research we will look for a new hydrogenation catalyst that allows the selective production of isostearic acid with a high degree of purity. This will be a search for the best catalyst material having the ideal balance of active sites with regard to both acid and metal properties.

LIFT project (300 k€) for Albert Heck and Jean-Francois Greisch, with consortium partners MSVision, Genentech and Roche

Our blood contains numerous antibodies that protect us against diseases. An infection causes a large and rapid rise in the concentration of certain antibodies, because they are directly involved in how the body tackles the disease. This proposal seeks to expand our understanding of patient-specific antibodies by purifying them directly from serum and characterizing them. To enable the characterization of serum antibodies we will implement new mass spectrometry methods that employ electrons and infrared and ultraviolet light.

KIEM project (50 k€) for Bert Weckhuysen and Robin Geitenbeek, with consortium partner DENSsolutions

Small events can have large consequences, especially in the active research field of nanomaterials. However, the performance of nanomaterials and the influence exerted on them by their direct surroundings are difficult to measure. Temperature is a good example of this, with many consequences including product yield and catalytic reaction selectivity. To get a grip on this, a three-part project has been set up; using microreactors (by DENSsolutions) temperature can be controlled on the (sub)micrometre scale, mapped using luminescence thermometry in combination with confocal microscopy, and lastly the resulting knowledge applied research into catalysts and chemical processes in which temperature on this scale is crucial.

KIEM project (45 k€) for Pieter Bruijnincx, with consortium partner CiorC

In order to create circular value chains it is necessary that the plastics used in packaging and consumer goods can ultimately be recycled chemically. One challenge in chemical recycling, turning a polymer back into its original building blocks, is that cost constraints make it difficult to add much value in this process. The aim of this project is to manufacture monomers with a higher added value, building blocks that could be reused as a polymer performance improver. This will provide an attractive, circular alternative to a building block that is currently only available through fossil sources.