Project

Vision at a glance

The VISION proposal aims at contributing to the industrial development of the two bio-based chemical platforms focusing on the exploitation of the levulinic (LA) and volatile fatty acids (VFAs). LA has received increasing attention due to its unique versatility as building block. Together with VFAs, it also represents a renewable co-substrate for the fermentative synthesis of poly(hydroxyalkanoate) biopolymers (PHA), which are now under fast development for industrial production and commercial exploitation. PHAs are considered the TOP emerging bioplastics, with the highest compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in between all the biobased alternatives to traditional fossil-based plastics. In the present project, LA and VFAs roducts will be obtained from residual biomasses by the application of thermochemical and biotechnological approaches, respectively. Thus, the acids will be exploited as the precursors for the obtainment of advanced and green chemicals and PHAs, which will be jointly used in the formulation of advanced composites. The latter will be tested 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 assessed by LCC and LCA analyses.