Title Promoter Affiliations Abstract "Excited molecules: development of photo- and redox-pathways as tools for green chemistry and bio-resource valorization" "Thomas Heugebaert" "Department of Green Chemistry and Technology" "The research program proposed herein will focus on the study of alternative energy input processes for chemical synthesis, including direct light-induced chemical derivatization, the closely related photo-redox processes and electrochemistry. Leveraged by micro-reactor technology, these alternate mechanistic pathways are evolving into valuable and green chemistry tools. The economic viability of both photo- and electro-chemically induced singe electron transfer (SET) redox reactions and of singlet/triplet chemistry is highly increased in a microfluidic set-up and can culminate in the direct or indirect use of solar light to obtain high added value chemicals. In addition, the distinct character of these mechanisms grant them a good compatibility with the highly functionalised nature of natural resources.The investigation of these alternative energy input processes for chemical synthesis thus represents a link between synthetic organic chemistry, the development of new reactor systems and bioresource valorization." "Alternative Energy Forms for Green Chemistry" "Tom Van Gerven" "Process Engineering for Sustainable Systems Section" "The ALTEREGO project aims at overcoming the existing bottlenecks towards implementation of alternative energy technologies for intensified chemical manufacturing. We plan to establish a new hierarchical methodology towards enabling highly efficient chemical syntheses with alternative energy forms through reliable process data collection with advanced analytical tools, robust multiscale modeling and design and development of scalable equipment. The methodology is generic and will be exemplified for three alternative energy technologies, namely ultrasound, microwave, and non-thermal plasma applied to different industrially relevant cases studies in the application areas of advanced pharmaceutical synthesis and green fuels and bulk chemicals synthesis." "AGRECHEM: Antwerp Green Chemistry." "Pegie Cool" "Biophysics and Biomedical Physics, AXES (Antwerp X-ray Analysis, Electrochemistry and Speciation), Organic synthesis (ORSY), Laboratory of adsorption and catalysis (LADCA)" "This project represents a research contract awarded by the University of Antwerp. The supervisor provides the Antwerp University research mentioned in the title of the project under the conditions stipulated by the university.The AGRECHEM consortium is an excellence centre of the University of Antwerp, focusing on green and sustainable chemistry. One of the biggest future challenges is the production of fine chemicals in a sustainable way. The quest for synthetic routes that are at the same time eco-friendly and economically feasible requires a concerted input of scientists with a variety of specializations. The progress in synthesis goes hand in hand with progress in materials characterization. Therefore, the consortium brings together two main research groups on synthetic chemistry and three research units specialized in material characterization techniques with emphasis on gaining mechanistic insight in chemical reactions. The consortium aims at consolidating and increasing the existing excellence in sustainable chemistry at the University of Antwerp." "LIGHT: advanced Light mIcroscopy for Green cHemisTry." "Maarten Roeffaers" "Membrane Separations, Adsorption, Catalysis, and Spectroscopy for Sustainable Solutions (cMACS)" "Nanoscience and nanotechnology have become crucial in the development of novel materials for catalysis research. In general, in depth characterizations of catalysts consists of determining the catalysts structure and chemical composition. In stark contrast, insight into the organic chemical transformations is mostly limited to bulk analysis of reaction mixtures. In order to gain detailed insight into the performance of these highly dispersed materials novel in situ characterization tools and techniques are required. Optical microscopy can take a prominent place in this research because of its molecular sensitivity and noninvasiveness. The LIGHT project proposes to develop optical microscopy based tools that enable clear-cut assignments of the overall catalytic activity of a powder to specific molecular sites or nano-scale features within that powder. In order to validate the proposed techniques important questions in catalysis research will be tackled ranging from acid-base to photocatalysis. Various materials like zeolites, clays, oxides and metal-organic frameworks will be investigated in great detail, at the single particle level or in microreactors.
With the generated nano-scale structure-activity relations, current catalyst synthesis can be rationalized and optimized. These more efficient catalysts are crucial in the development of better performing, green chemical processes." "Development of novel catalyst materials for green chemistry applications." "Vera Meynen" "Laboratory of adsorption and catalysis (LADCA)" "In this project, the wide range of porous architectures (ceramic and metallic based) that have been developed within the group KMP (VITO) the last years, will be tuned towards its use as catalyst support materiais, i.e. in heterogeneous catalysis. The advantages of the different materials in the processes will be economically evaluated" "Plasma catalysis for CO2 recycling and green chemistry (PIONEER)." "Annemie Bogaerts" "University of Trento, University of Liverpool, University of York, Instituto Superior Technico, Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research (DIFFER), University of Bucharest, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS Paris), Sorbonne University, University of Technology Eindhoven, AGH University of Science and Technology, Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine - Antwerp (PLASMANT)" "The main objective of this project is the formation of a new generation of experts in the subject of CO2 valorization using plasma-catalytic coupled processes.Plasma intensification of CO2 valorization processes, such as CO2 hydrogenation and dry reforming of methane, can greatly contribute to the stabilization of CO2 concentration in our atmosphere through the production of synthetic fuels that will be involved in overall zero or near zero emission cycles. This alternative utilization of yet C-based fuels will play an important role in our transition to a 100% renewable future. Chemical and thermochemical CO2 valorization processes are hindered by very slow reaction kinetics. Catalysts are often used but, most of the time, they either are not enough, or their utilization is not feasible under real operation conditions. The use of plasmas in combination with a well-designed catalyst can turn this sluggish CO2 valorization processes feasible. There is however a complete lack of knowledge about almost every aspect of this plasma-catalysis coupling. Research efforts are directed towards the understanding of CO2 plasmas, their interaction with solid catalytic surfaces, the formation of excited species and the fundamentals of the reaction mechanisms involved. Different plasmas and different catalysts are needed. Novel reactor concepts need to be found. The PhD topics cover many different scientific disciplines: from the physics of plasmas to the physicochemical characterization of solid surfaces and catalysis. The students will be instructed in several fields, not only considering science but also other important skills, such as soft skills training, as well as specific formation on managing, marketing and business skills along the duration of this project." "#Double green# chemistry: electrocatalytic coupling of CO2 with bio-alcohols" "Dirk De Vos" "Centre for Surface Chemistry and Catalysis, Surface and Interface Engineered Materials" "Incorporation of carbon dioxide into functional chemicals, e.g. monomers for polymer production, is a huge challenge, requiring inventive approaches. Currently, only one, well-explored route is available, via epoxides. The goal in the current proposal is to create alternative monomers for polyesters via incorporation of CO2. This requires not only formation of a new C-C bond; but one also needs to supply electrons to reduce the carbon dioxide. Therefore, we propose an inventive electrocatalytic approach in which the electrons to reduce the CO2 are supplied by the organic, preferably biobased molecule to which the CO2 is coupled, using the concept of a convergent, paired electrosynthesis. Specifically, alcohols are oxidized and in the process react with CO2 which is reduced, leading to 2-hydroxycarboxylates, such as lactate, or a variety of other hydroxycarboxylate monomers." "Sustainable chemistry for the synthesis of fine chemicals" "Christian Stevens" "Department of Green Chemistry and Technology" "The chemical industry in Flanders is of major importance at several levels. It provides 10% of all employment in Flanders, is home of the largest petrochemical cluster in Europe and is the main location of 10 out of the world’s top 20 chemical companies. The chemical industry stands for more or less 50% of all R&D expenditures in Flanders and for 30% of all industrial investments in Belgium. Flanders is located at the heart of the Antwerp-Rotterdam-Rhine-Ruhr area, Europe’s strongest industrial mega-cluster with 80% for Europe’s purchasing power located within a radius of 800 km (Flanders Investment & Trade). Recently, some major investments have been made. In 2017, Kaneka strengthened its future in the region by announcing an investment of EUR 34 million in a third modified silicone (MS) polymer production line at its facility in Westerlo. Borealis is investing 1 billion Euro into the construction of a new propylene factory in Antwerp. The British chemical concern INEOS will be funneling 3 billion Euro into the expansion of its local chemical plant, which represents the largest chemical investment in Europe of the past two decades. The pinnacle of the investment is an ethane gas cracker, one of the largest in the world. No need to say that chemical research is a key area in Flanders, and that sustainability in the chemical sector is crucial for a very densely populated region. Furthermore, it will be essential to continue to innovate our chemical production in order to remain competitive compared to emerging (and already existing) industrial powers such as China, India, Brazil and Indonesia. Indeed, Asia’s chemical production has already surpassed that of the rest of the world. Contributing to this, China is by far the biggest chemical producer in sales. On top of that, the growth in the global economy has slowed down in recent years. Generally speaking, business investment is weak, cross-border trade in goods and services is dwindling, and physical goods are under persistent deflationary pressures. Therefore, the outlook for growth in Europe remains unpromising, as demand continues to be weak. In this context, Flanders need to be aware of the changing world and invest in research and innovation. The European Commission is now developing the Horizon Europe program in order to stimulate the necessary internal changes to create ""a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy"". The development of new technologies to produce chemicals in a sustainable way will be a key issue to keep the European chemical industry in a strong position. If Flanders wants to maintain an important role in the European chemical industry, it will have to develop competitive tools to enable a more efficient and sustainable production. The vision and creating new possibilities; It is crucial for the academic community in Flanders to build up knowledge and to develop a sustainable technology platform for the transition to a more sustainable industry. This proposal concerns a continuation of the scientific research community for the sustainable production of fine chemicals and thus fits directly into this picture. A community for scientific exchange and collaboration is essential, as it is not possible for a single research group to deal with the numerous and varied facets of sustainable chemistry/technology. Only through joint stimulation and teamwork, the most effective solutions can be created to help to address the enormous challenges ahead. The sustainable production of fine chemicals (and building blocks for polymers) is a broad area that encompasses many varied and different research areas, including new synthetic methodologies, (bio)catalysis, flow chemistry, electrochemistry, photochemistry, renewable resources, new ways of energy transfer, and the combination of all these techniques in order to optimize the complete production process. Each area requires specific and expert equipment, which calls for collaboration and integration. The different research groups brought together in this scientific community are each world-leading in one or more areas of chemical sustainability. The principal idea of the research community is to increase the interaction between the research groups and to combine their specific expertise in order to obtain more generic sustainable approaches and processes. The continuation of a community resource; The continuation of a research community will provide a forum for future collaboration in the area of sustainability and stimulate in depth discussion on the integration of research areas. Efforts will be made to get detailed information of the chemical industry to identify real problems related to processes that have a big environmental and/or economic footprint. This approach also complements the efforts being undertaken within the framework of Catalisti, the spearhead cluster for the chemical industry in Flanders. The initiative is now being broadened by top international experts in certain areas of sustainable chemistry and does not focus only on topics that need to be immediately implemented industrially, but also focuses on basic research leading to industrial application on a longer term, which will positively influence the development and the applicability of sustainable chemistry in our region. The working group will consider the process dimension (Green Engineering) as well as a holistic extension of the Green Chemistry innovations. Furthermore, it will create additional opportunities to educate doctoral students and postdocs by allowing direct contact with a wider selection of international experts, which will aid to influence their thinking and their future careers. ""Benign by Design"" needs to take the place of ""end-of-pipe solutions"" for sustainability problems. The initial aim of this community is to organize international workshops on sustainable chemistry in order to disseminate the results of the research of the different collaborating partners and to give training on specific topics for PhD students and postdocs of the Flemish community (not limited to the partners of this application). The aim is to allow leverage of the group activities by linking to existing networks which concentrate on sustainability, such as the Ghent University Centre of Sustainable Chemistry, the International Conference on Renewable Resources and Biorefineries, the Belgian Merck Organic Chemistry Symposium on fine chemicals, the international Belgian Organic Synthesis Symposium (BOSS), the Global Green Chemistry Centers Network (G2C2) … The interaction between the expert research groups in specific areas of sustainable chemistry will lead to a competitive advantage for the Flemish chemical industry and form an asset for young researchers who have experience in sustainable chemistry." "InSusChem - Consortium for Integrated Sustainable Chemistry Antwerp." "Vera Meynen" "Modelling and Simulation in Chemistry (MOSAIC), Institutional Research Unit, Applied Electrochemistry & Catalysis (ELCAT), Engineering Management, Intelligence in PRocesses, Advanced Catalysts and Solvents (iPRACS), Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine - Antwerp (PLASMANT), Sustainable Energy, Air and Water Technology (DuEL), Organic synthesis (ORSY), Laboratory of adsorption and catalysis (LADCA)" "This IOF consortium connects chemists, engineers, economic and environmental oriented researchers in an integrated team to maximize impact in key enabling sustainable chemical technologies, materials and reactors that are able to play a crucial role in a sustainable chemistry and economic transition to a circular, resource efficient and carbon neutral economy (part of the 2030 and 2050 goals in which Europe aims to lead). Innovative materials, renewable chemical feedstocks, new/alternative reactors, technologies and production methods are essential and central elements to achieve this goal. Due to their mutual interplay, a multidisciplinary, concerted effort is crucial to be successful. Furthermore, early on prediction and identification of strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats in life cycles, techno-economics and sustainability are key to allow sustainability by design and create effective knowledge-based decision-making and focus. The consortium focuses on sustainable chemical production through efficient and alternative energy use connected to circularity, new chemical pathways, technologies, reactors and materials, that allow the use of alternative feedstock and energy supply. These core technical aspects are supported by expertise in simulation, techno-economic and environmental impact assessment and uncertainty identification to accelerate technological development via knowledge-based design and early stage identified key research, needed for accelerated growth and maximum impact on sustainability. To achieve these goals, the consortium members are grouped in 4 interconnected valorisation programs focusing on key performance elements that thrive the chemical industry and technology: 1) renewable building blocks; 2) sustainable materials and materials for sustainable processes; 3) sustainable processes, efficiently using alternative renewable energy sources and/or circular chemical building blocks; 4) innovative reactors for sustainable processes. In addition, cross-cutting integrated enablers are present, providing expertise and essential support to the 4 valorisation programs through simulation, techno-economic and environmental impact assessment and uncertainty analysis." "Broadening the application potential of electrochemically mediated photoredox conversions (E-PRC) through flow chemistry" "Thomas Heugebaert" "Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, Department of Chemistry" "In the past decade, photoredox chemistry has developed into a valuable method to produce specialty chemicals. In a typical photoredox process the photocatalyst absorbs energy (a photon) and then initiates a range of reduction and oxidation processes. The associated transfer of electrons between catalyst and substrate leads to the formation of new chemical bonds and desired products. These conversions are however often net reductions or oxidations of the starting molecules, and to proceed they require a 'sacrificial' reagent as electron source or sink. Stoichiometric amounts of these reagents are converted to useless byproducts and thus represent a large amount of waste. The recently emerging field of electrophotocatalysis addresses this problem by providing the electron source/sink by means of an electric potential. While this field is very promising, it is hampered by the absence of a well-designed reactor set-up capable of handling the high demands of the photochemical and electrochemical step. Within this project, concepts developed in the OLED industry and in flow chemistry will be translated to the field of electrophotocatalysis, to improve and expand its applicability. More specifically, the use of a prototype flow reactor, already functional in undivided cell mode, will be further elaborated in divided cell mode. By using this reactor as a powerful tool to improve scalability and process control, we will target valorisation in the late-stage functionalization of APIs."