Research

Plastics make an indispensable contribution to human progress in virtually every aspect of life, such as in modern medicine, where they have led to an unprecedented improvement in quality of life and life expectancy. However, this progress comes at a high cost in terms of the exploitation of fossil resources and environmental pollution. The use of renewable raw materials as a substitute for synthetic polymers plays a major role in the transition toward sustainable materials and environmentally friendly solutions. In some emerging fields, such as 3D printing via stereolithography, the use of both sustainable materials and composite materials is severely limited. Furthermore, the reprocessing and recycling of these materials involve significant difficulties and considerable effort. This project aims to explore possibilities for designing 3D-printable composite materials based on sustainable resources that can be degraded through “degradation on demand” triggered by the use of chemical and/or enzymatic agents and subsequently repurposed for further material use. Based on vinyl ester monomers—a class of substances similar to (meth)acrylates but with significantly lower toxicity and inherently cleavable groups—cellulose and chitin nanofibrils will be chemically and/or enzymatically modified to enable shaping via high-resolution 3D printing (stereolithography). By combining suitable monomers and modifications, the compatibility of the formulations is ensured, and by selecting appropriate reinforcing materials, mechanical performance is achieved that can compete with conventional synthetic 3D printing materials. At the end of their service life, the basic building blocks can be recovered through the cleavage of functional groups and reused, which dramatically reduces the amount of waste generated.

Europe imports 74% of the protein feed it needs and produces nitrogen fertiliser using the energy-intensive Haber-Bosch process. At the same time, large quantities of bound nitrogen are eliminated through combustion or in sewage treatment plants. Today, insects and microorganisms are used to recycle waste streams. The aim of the project is to develop an innovative process for the utilisation of organic waste fractions by cockroaches supported by an AI-assisted system. The BonsAI project has the following objectives: 1. Development of an AI-controlled bioconversion technology for the fully automated separation of organic and inorganic waste fractions with a separation efficiency of ≥ 95% and a bioconversion rate/biomass utilisation rate of ≥ 90% of the organic input 2. Scaling from laboratory scale (1 m³) to pilot plant level (10 m³) with proof of industrial suitability through continuous operation for ≥ 6 months 3. Achieving a throughput of 50 kg of organic matter/day (in the 10 m³ plant) 4. Development of new recycling products with defined quality standards: cockroach protein hydrolysates (≥ 90% protein content), hygienised feed (NPK content according to EU fertiliser regulation) and biogas co-substrates (≥ 70% of theoretical methane yield)

The project ELF4GREEN deals with an advanced bioconversion concept for production of green fuels and chemicals implementing electro-fermentation as a core technology. In future circular economy, Biorefineries will be responsible for the provision of chemicals and fuels based on renewable feedstocks. A pre-requisite is the supply of cost-effective feedstocks for large-scale production on a consistent basis. An obvious way to go is to utilize waste materials. Bio-wastes and residues are cheap and widely available in the EU at present, however, their use requires significant technological innovation, especially to overcome feedstock quality variations. Within ELF4GREEN advanced fermentation concepts are investigated with particularly focus on the use of such waste materials both in form of liquid waste and as well as hardly degradable organic waste fraction (e.g. mixed plastic waste). The core technology to achieve that, is an up-coming high-end fermentation technology – electro-fermentation. This technique relies on electro-active microorganisms which have the unique feature to shuttle electrons across their cell membrane and extracellularly transfer them to or from an electrode submerged into the liquid media. The applied electric current allows to direct and rearrange metabolic cell reactions and consequently to change the generated product pattern. For the treatment of dry and poorly biodegradable materials, e.g. municipal waste, mixed plastic waste or wood residues, this core technology will be combined with gasification and syngas-fermentation. More readily bio-convertible substrates will be treated by acidic fermentation. In both approaches the intermediary metabolites will be up-graded through tailor-made electro-supported fermentation technologies to obtain the final products.