How to tackle the challenge of upscaling biomass pretreatment for bionanomaterial production

Spruce pulp BBEPP

Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant (BBEPP) is an independent, state-of-the-art facility that operates from laboratory level to multi-ton scale. Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant is a service provider for process development, scale-up and customised manufacturing of bio-based products and processes. A wide and flexible spectrum of modular unit operations combined with the experience of our highly competent engineers and technicians enables us to turn your biobased laboratory protocol into a viable industrial process.

Bionanopolys is looking for Advisory Board Members!

Advisory Board members wanted!

Our Open Innovation Test-Bed Bionanopolys aims at building a reference ecosystem for the upscaling of safe nano-enabled bio-based materials and polymer bionanocomposites for multifunctional and new advanced applications such as textiles, cosmetics, 3D printing, rigid and flexible packaging, foams, cellulosic fibres. As part of the management structure of the Ecosystem, the OITB partners have agreed to include an Advisory Board formed by up to 7 parties to support its strategic mission and business growth.

Functional nanocapsules development and production

Nanocapsules

The Centre for Nanotechnology and Smart Materials – CeNTI – is a private, non-profit R&D institute in the north of Portugal with a multisectoral focus and cutting-edge technology. CeNTI’s participation in the BIONANOPOLYS project focuses, among other things, on the production of bionanoadditives, i.e. functional nanocapsules for the controlled release of active ingredients that can be used in various fields.

Pupils explore Bionanopolys

HBLA Forstwirtschaft visits acib for an internship. pupils work in the lab.

Pupils from the HBLA für Forstwirtschaft Bruck an der Mur did an internship at acib and describe their experiences in a blog post. They explored how to use wood to produce biopolymers, and gained some insights into the H2020 OITB project Bionanopolys.

Organic waste valorization and up-cycling

Wood waste

Wood residues, straw and further agricultural wastes based on lignocellulose are excellent raw materials for the production of bionanomaterials. The raw material is physically pretreated (steam explosion) and enzymatically hydrolyzed to release the valuable sugar building blocks. The hydrolysate is subsequently used as a feedstock in fermentation processes to produce for example PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoates) or PLA (polylactic acid). PHA and PLA are compostable plastics and thereby the circle closes.

Bio-based solutions for foam applications

Packaging foam

The formulations used to produce current foams in the market are mostly based on fossil-based polymers such as polyolefins, polystyrene, polyurethanes among others or even blends of them. They are also quite complex …

How Bionanopolys meets the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Let's work together for our common future

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), defined by the UN in 2016, aim at securing the sustainable development globally in terms of economic growth, resource management, equality, ecosystem and the enhancement of resilience. The central topic of Bionanopolys, which is the safe and sustainable development of bio-based nanomaterials, perfectly fits into this Agenda 2030.

Compostability of bionanomaterials

Composted soil in hands

The analysis of compostability and recyclability is one of the services that are offered by the Bionanopolys team. For a sustainable approach it is important to characterize materials in terms of their biodegradation, disintegration behaviour and their compost quality.

Let’s ask Jordi Palau and Hector Torres from ITENE, who are our experts in this field: