Project description
A sustainable route to FDCA production
The organic chemical compound 2,5-Furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) offers exciting opportunities to create a wide range of polymers including polyesters, polyamides and polyurethanes. It can be used as a replacement for the petroleum-based monomers terephthalic acid and adipic acid. The EU-funded Cell2Carbox project aims to make FDCA production less expensive and more eco-friendly. It will use cellulosic biomass as a feedstock, which is the most abundantly available raw material on Earth. Single-atom catalysts will be used for biomass conversion. This catalysis approach provides a promising solution to improve the traditional chemical conversion process and decrease its cost. Moreover, compared with traditional catalysts, the single-atom catalyst is characterised by higher activity, selectivity and stability.
Objective
Furan-2,5-dicarboxylic acid (FDCA) is a biobased product and an important chemical building block. It has a huge potential as a substitute for a variety of petrochemicals, such as terephthalic acid and adipic acid. It is highly important for the pharma industry as it is being used in biopolymer industries to make polyesters, polyurethanes, and polyamides. Currently, avantium process is the only established industrial process consisting of the catalytic dehydration of carbohydrates to alkoxymethylfurfural (RMF) which is further oxidized to the sodium salt of FDCA using homogenous catalytic system. Using the homogeneous catalytic system for oxidation process followed by the alkaline solution for separation process makes the process more expensive and less eco-friendly. However, base-free systems lead to low yield and selectivity, therefore extensive research is required for exploring a new heterogenous catalytic system. Direct utilization of cellulosic biomass as a feedstock over the multifunctional heterogeneous catalytic system will improve the economic feasibility with optimized production technologies, as these are abundantly available at a low cost. I will achieve this goal by designing a multifunctional catalyst with the combined effect of acid, base and metal sites as a single atomic site. Cell2Carbox project aims to develop unique and sustainable catalytic processes for FDCA production from an inexpensive and highly abundant cellulosic biomass using multifunctional heterogeneous SACs (Single-atom based catalyst) system. Besides, the project comprises a program for my professional growth by training-through-research in heterogeneous catalysis and for the development of complementary skills. Strengthened by this experience, I will become independent expert in the process development for biomass valorization, as of major scientific importance in the coming decades as it is postulated in the EU Vision The circular bio-society in 2050.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences chemical sciences inorganic chemistry alkali metals
- natural sciences chemical sciences polymer sciences polyurethane
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules carbohydrates
- natural sciences chemical sciences catalysis
- agricultural sciences agricultural biotechnology biomass
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.4. - SPREADING EXCELLENCE AND WIDENING PARTICIPATION
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-WF-2018-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.