GREEN CHEMISTRY and Sustainability
Our aim is to face different aspects of sustainability with our expertise in chemistry, biochemistry, industrial biotechnology, and materials chemistry with the aim of developing novel, efficient and environmentally compatible solutions for an innovative chemical industry. We exploit new (bio)catalytic strategies to produce small and macro-molecules of interest for the chemical, pharmaceutical, agro-food, and cosmetic sectors, also through the transformation of raw materials from renewable sources into a bio-refinery perspective. We fit the circular economy approach also by developing/formulating new materials and processes for biomass and polymer waste upcycling. We design functional materials to develop methods for decontamination from toxic chemicals and radiological contaminants and for the development of sustainable agriculture.
RESEARCH TOPICS
Projects
Healthier meat products with less saturated fat, and novel utilization of excess animal fat combined with carbohydrate-rich side streams - AnimalFatPlus
Norwegian food systems need to be transformed to deliver sustainable healthy diets. The project AnimalFat+ addresses the challenges facing the meat industry; 1) how to decrease the content of saturated fat in processed meat products without compromising sensory quality...
An Open Innovation Test Bed for Nano-Enabled Bio-Based PUR Foams and Composites - BIOMAT
BIOMAT is a highly innovative 4-year European Project aiming to establish an Open Innovation Test Bed (BIOMAT-TB) for providing services to a wide range of European industries and SMEs in order to accelerate and facilitate the uptake of innovation in nano-enabled...
Dagli scarti lignocellulosici a prodotti di alto valore nutrizionale (Omega-3) e ambientale via microalghe - CENOMA
The aim of this project is to develop fermentation processes for the production of omega-3 with microalgal strains capable of growing in heterotrophic conditions, using the carbohydrates of the hydrolysis of lignocellulosic residues, both of cellulose and...
CItrus waste ReCycLing for added value products - CIRCLE
Citrus waste recycling for added value products -project aims at facing a specific issue of the citrus processing industry: the management of high loads of solid waste, mainly composed of peel, pulps and seeds. With a circular economy approach, focused on the efficient use...
Chromium catalysis: from fundamental understanding to functional aliphatic polymers - Cr4FUN
Cr4FUN aims at designing, synthetizing, and characterizing homogeneous and heterogeneous chromium-based catalysts for addressing two key targets in the New Plastic Economy: a) the production of aliphatic polymers with high performance and increased...
Thermophilic bacterial and archaeal chassis for extremolyte production - HotSolute
This ERA-CoBiotech project is developing thermophilic in vitro enzyme cascades as well as two new chassis, the thermophilic bacterium Thermus thermophilus (Tth, 65-75°C, pH 7.0) and the thermoacidophilic archaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius (Saci, 75-80°C, pH 2-4) ...
Leonardo Automated Manufacturing Processes for cOmposites - LAMPO
L’ attività di ricerca SCITEC riguarda lo studio di formulazioni polimeriche, utilizzabili come precursori di fibre di carbonio, con l'obiettivo di migliorare la processabilità delle fibre ed evitare solventi tossici per l'ambiente e gli operatori...
LEvulinic acid Valorization through Advanced Novel TEchnologies - LEVANTE
The full exploitation of non-food biomass sources represents a fundamental step to pursue the transition from a linear economy to a circular and more sustainable one. One of the most promising platform chemicals derived from lignocellulose is levulinic acid (LA)...
Polymer mETamateriALs for nanophotonicS - PETALS
PETALS introduces polymer science in the field of optical metamaterials for photonics. Metamaterials are artificial structures where properties are mainly defined by architecture rather than composition. For photonic applications a local structure of ca. 10 nm - the meta-atom - responsible for...
Superfici autodecontaminanti con proprietà biocide: perossidi immobilizzati per spazi comuni più sicuri - PerBiocid
Il Progetto intende sviluppare film polimerici sottili in grado di: - immobilizzare superficialmente specie con attività biocida; - mantenere la capacità di generazione di specie ossidanti e radicaliche nel tempo; - rilasciare le specie attive a contatto con...
Novel Products for Construction and Automotive Industries Based on Bio Materials and Natural Fibres - REINVENT
The automotive industry is constantly looking for new materials in order to reduce the vehicle weight and comply with legislation while Buildings consume large amounts of resources to construct and operate. The ReInvent project aims to deliver novel bio based rigid moulded...
Recycling End of Life permanent magnets by innovative sintering and 3D printing - Rendering3D
The key theme of the project is the reuse of permanent magnets (PM) based on rare earths (RE). The production of PMs is concentrated in China and their demand is steadily growing, which make the REs extremely vulnerable to price fluctuations and shortages...
Sustainable recovery and biotechnological valorization of medicinal plants wastes - STAIRWAy
The aim of the STAIRWAy research project is to develop sustainable recovery procedures of valuable natural compounds from wastes of industrial production processes of medicinal plants...