Innovative ecosystem for circular use and upgrading of CO2, nitrogen and other components in the air to improve the quality of our living environment.

The University of Antwerp (UAntwerp) aspires to connect complementary actors within the Flemish ecosystem for sustainable chemistry and materials. More specifically, UAntwerp aims to support and accelerate the valorization of innovations aimed at improving indoor and outdoor air quality. This is a niche market with enormous potential. To optimally support multidisciplinary collaborations in this domain, there is a need for R&I infrastructure that enables efficient scaling up and demonstration of innovative technologies aimed at the circular use and upgrading of CO2, nitrogen and other components in the air. To achieve this, the university is investing in BlueApp, an open innovation hub for sustainable chemistry and materials where multidisciplinary collaborations between entrepreneurial researchers, companies and startups can take place that aim to scale up innovative technologies from small-scale design prototypes to functional and sophisticated (reliable) prototypes on a pilot scale. Using the Flipped TTO principle, Proof of Concept (POC) projects will be selected that focus on the development of innovative technologies that provide an answer to the needs of companies, the market and/or society in the field of circular use and upgrading of CO2, nitrogen and other components in the air in order to accelerate impactful innovations. In addition, the R&I infrastructure and innovative technologies will be integrated into living lab demonstrators to test the economic and technological viability of these technologies, always aiming to initiate a dialogue between the relevant stakeholders such as companies, entrepreneurial researchers, startups, governments and citizens.

Keywords:PLASMA CHEMISTRY, REACTORS, PHOTOCATALYSIS, ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY

Disciplines:Catalysis, Flow chemistry, Inorganic green chemistry, Photochemistry, Environmental chemistry