Descripción del proyecto
Una nueva manera de convertir los residuos en productos valiosos
Los residuos biogénicos pueden convertirse en productos útiles, como combustibles y sustancias químicas. El equipo del proyecto BioValCat, financiado por el Consejo Europeo de Investigación, pretende revolucionar este proceso. A partir de materias primas renovables como materia vegetal y residuos agrícolas, convertirá los residuos biogénicos en combustibles y sustancias químicas, a la vez que reduce el impacto ambiental. A partir del reciente descubrimiento de que los catalizadores de polioxometalato (POM) pueden manipularse para mejorar su eficacia y rendimiento, en el proyecto se pretende desarrollar un proceso escalable, seguro y económico que permita oxidar biomasa con el fin de obtener valiosos ésteres de ácidos carboxílicos. Al utilizar metanol como (co)disolvente, los catalizadores de POM eliminan la oxidación total no deseada de CO2 en condiciones oxidativas. El equipo de BioValCat podría crear una economía circular y contribuir a un futuro más sostenible.
Objetivo
This project builds on a recent and ground-breaking discovery of the PI in the field of homogeneously catalysed, selective biomass valorisation. Materials technologies that promise improved catalytic performance are of utmost interest for a more sustainable chemical industry. Manipulating molecular catalysts like polyoxometalates (POM) in solution by tuning the solvent properties and gas atmospheres introduces a new paradigm in homogeneous-catalysed biomass valorisation technologies.
It has been found that by using methanol as a (co)solvent, POM catalysts can completely suppress undesired total oxidation to CO2 under oxidative conditions. This drastically enhances the carbon efficiency from biomass to close to 100% yield. Remarkably, this manipulating effect could be explained with the formation of a new vanadyl-methanolate-complex in methanol-aqueous solutions having a methanol content of at least 10%.
The proposed BioValCat project aims for developing this potentially disruptive technology towards an industrial viable biomass valorisation process by laying the foundations for a scalable, safe and economic process for the oxidation of biomass to valuable carboxylic acid esters. The project is structured according to the key challenges that have to be mastered in order to achieve this ambitious goal: a) Investigations to identify the nature of the POM-solvent interactions; b) Understanding and revealing the key organic mechanisms in solution; c) Development of novel POM catalysts specifically optimised to perform in aqueous-alcoholic solvent mixtures; d) Extension of the substrate and product scope to industrially viable biomass feedstock; e) Process development, with special emphasis on safety aspects, process intensification as well as product isolation and catalyst recovery.
With the proposed project the PI aims for paving the scientific route to novel, low-cost biomass utilisation technologies with great promise for decentralised valorisation of biogenic waste.
Ámbito científico
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Régimen de financiación
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC GrantsInstitución de acogida
20148 Hamburg
Alemania