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From biomass to catalysts and chemicals: exploiting blood and food waste towards high-value products.

Project description

Low-cost catalysts from industrial waste

Rapid developments in organic chemistry allow the production of universal and cost-affordable catalysts from industrial waste. The EU-funded HAEMOGLOBIN project will make universal and low-cost catalysts from industrial waste and apply them to biomass upgrading. Specifically, it will make single atomic FeNx sites supported on carbon (FeNx@C) that have seen tremendous development in organic chemistry in recent years. They are also active for both oxidations and reductions, constituting a promising non-toxic and low-cost alternative to the platinum-group metals. The development of this new technology will facilitate the exploitation of biomass to make new catalysts and achieve large-scale conversion of bio-based platform chemicals.

Objective

The aim of this proposal is to make universal and low-cost catalysts from industrial waste and apply them to biomass upgrading. To that end, we will make single atomic FeNx sites supported on carbon (FeNx@C) that have seen tremendous development in organic chemistry in the past 5 years. Indeed, they are active for both oxidations and reductions, and constitute promising substitutes for toxic, scarce and costly platinum-group metals (PGM). Yet major challenges remain in the field: first we need to find new routes to drastically lower the footprint of their synthesis. Here we will adopt a bio-inspired approach and use inexpensive hemoproteins as precursors: they naturally contain four pre-built FeNx sites (hemes) per unit. Hemoproteins can be extracted from blood in slaughterhouse waste. We will use the resulting catalysts for the upgrading of key biomass-derived platform molecules: 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF), levulinic acid (LA), and other biomass-derived alcohols.

The reductive and oxidative potency of FeNx@C will be first explored separately, then sequentially for alcohol direct conversion to amines. Due to their heterogeneous nature, FeNx@C catalysts can be readily transposed to continuous flow synthesis. With such promising technology, we will fully exploit biomass to both make new catalysts and perform large scale conversion of bio-based platform chemicals.

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Topic(s)

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MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2019

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Coordinator

IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE
Net EU contribution

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.

€ 212 933,76
Address
SOUTH KENSINGTON CAMPUS EXHIBITION ROAD
SW7 2AZ LONDON
United Kingdom

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Region
London Inner London — West Westminster
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

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.

€ 212 933,76
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