VISION: Development and promotion of the levulinic acid and carboxylate platforms by the formulation of novel
and advanced PHA-based biomaterials and their exploitation for 3D printed green-electronics applications
Project funded as part of National Project PRIN – 2017
The VISION project deals with the valorisation of bio-waste for the production of goods, referring to different industrial fields. In particular, VISION is intended to contribute to the industrial development of two bio-based chemical platforms, levulinic (LA) and volatile fatty acids (VFAs), focusing on their exploitation. They will be obtained from residual biomasses by the application of thermochemical and biotechnological approaches, respectively, through a cascading and integrated bio-refinery scheme. LA has received increasing attention due its unique versatility as building block. VFAs are employed in food industry as enhancers and preservatives or even as building blocks for the production of other compounds, such as alcohols and esters. These bio-based esters may have an important potential application in several fields of chemical industry. In fact, they have been substituting fossil derived aromatic solvents in paint, fragrances, bio-lubricants and as reaction media in industrial chemical synthesis. Moreover, LA and VFAs can also represent renewable co-substrates for the fermentative synthesis of poly(hydroxyalkanoate) biopolymers (PHA), which are now under fast development for industrial production and commercial exploitation. They will be jointly used in the formulation of advanced composites, as 3D-printed plastics supporting electronic circuits to be applied for the smart environmental monitoring. The economic and environmental sustainability of the final products will be studied by the application of LCC and LCA analyses.
Main expected outcomes of the VISION project
- Optimisation of levulinic acid synthesis from grape pomace through sustainable hydrolysis, which will be used as feedstock for the production of PHA, esters and ketals;
- Optimisation of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) synthesis through acidogenic fermentation of grape pomace, which will be used as feedstock for the production of PHA and esters;
- Synthesis of novel PH3B/3V/4V and PHH-PHAs bio-polymers, which are currently not available at the commercial level but hold great promises on the bases of their physical-mechanical properties;
- Synthesis of esters and ketals respectively obtained through functionalization of either the carboxylic groups or the LA ketone moiety with renewable alcohols, which will be tested as solvents and chemical additives (plasticizers, nucleants, impact modifiers);
- Formulation of PHAs-based bio-plastics with tuned properties for technical advanced and high added-value applications;
- Application of the synthesised PHAs-based bio-plastics in the manufacturing of a piezoelectric force sensor (i.e accelerometer/transducer) and a molecularly imprinted chemical sensors for wireless monitoring of forces and chemicals, that could be used for real-time environmental controls;
- Production of nano-crystalline cellulose (NCC) from residual lignocellulosic biomass that will be used as renewable reinforcing filler in PHAs to obtain nanocomposites with increased functional properties.
Involved Research Units:
- Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna - Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental and Materials Engineering
- University of Pisa - Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry
- University of Pisa - Department of Information Engineering
- University of Perugia - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- National Research Council (CNR) - Water Research Institute (IRSA)
- University of Modena and Reggio Emilia - Department of Sciences and Methods for Engineering
Partners:
- GFBiochemicals
- Biosphere S.r.l.
- Engineering
- A-Z Gomma S.r.l.
- ARCHA S.r.l.