Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents (NADES) represent a green chemistry alternative to utilization of common hazardous organic solvents. They were introduced by Abbott et al. [1], and were found to have a wide range of compositions and favorable properties. NADES are typically obtained by mixing hydrogen-bond acceptors (HBA), with hydrogen bond donors (HBD), leading to a significant depression of the melting point. The availability of components, simple preparation, biodegradability, safety, re usability and low cost are the significant advantages that call for research on their analytical applications. Three methods are most commonly used for preparing NADES: a) heating and stirring: the mixture until a clear liquid is formed; b) evaporating solvent from components solution with a rotatory evaporator; c) freeze drying of aqueous solutions.The common solvents for the extraction of anthocyanins are acidified mixtures of water with ethanol, methanol, or acetone. The anthocyanins extracts are susceptible to degradation due to high temperature, and the solvent properties (e.g. high pH) and the whole process can often be time-consuming. Extraction of anthocyanins from red cabbage by four NADES was investigated. It was demonstrated that NADES have comparable extraction efficiencies with conventional method with 0.1 M water solution of HCl. This indicates a possibility of utilization the Green chemistry extraction processes as a promising new green-extraction technology with low cost efficiency and environment friendly technology for production of safe food additives.
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The Green Biotechnology research group focusses on the application of molecular breeding/biotechnological tools and also on the development/analysis of new tools, for the breeding of enhanced vegetable crops and ornamental plants. The research group is positioned within Inholland University of Applied Sciences, Life Sciences & Chemistry and serves as a link between the breeding companies and our education of the skilled technicians of tomorrow. We are working on the development of a method for targeted mutagenesis of plant genomes using the bacterial CRISPR-Cas system. This method greatly enhances the effectiveness and speed by which new crops and plants can be developed
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By transitioning from a fossil-based economy to a circular and bio-based economy, the industry has an opportunity to reduce its overall CO2 emission. Necessary conditions for effective and significant reductions of CO2-emissions are that effective processing routes are developed that make the available carbon in the renewable sources accessible at an acceptable price and in process chains that produce valuable products that may replace fossil based products. To match the growing industrial carbon demand with sufficient carbon sources, all available circular, and renewable feedstock sources must be considered. A major challenge for greening chemistry is to find suitable sustainable carbon that is not fossil (petroleum, natural gas, coal), but also does not compete with the food or feed demand. Therefore, in this proposal, we omit the use of first generation substrates such as sugary crops (sugar beets), or starch-containing biomasses (maize, cereals).
The textile industry is one of the largest environmental polluters, primarily due to its water-intensive dyeing processes and the waste-water release of synthetic colorants which are harmful to the environment and human health. While there are efforts to improve sustainability, few solutions address both water usage and the need for renewable alternatives to synthetic dyes. FuntureTex presents an innovative solution by implementing fungal-based colorants with the doping dyeing process. Fungal colorants are renewable and biodegradable, providing a sustainable alternative to synthetic dyes. The doping process is a water-saving technique where colorants are integrated directly into textile fibers during their production, eliminating the need for traditional water-dependent dyeing steps. This method reduces water use by up to 90% compared to conventional dyeing, as no water is required to rinse or fix the dye. Til date, although efforts have been made on incorporating biobased substances in dope dyeing, the use of natural, especially fungal colorants, has not yet been done. In this project, the consortium will combine forces to improve dope dyeing by using fungal colorants. Key technologies including fermentation and green chemistry will be applied throughout the project. Firstly, the colorants will be produced via fermentation and treated with sustainable downstream processing methods. Afterwards, the colorants will be integrated into polymers and yarned as textile materials by using the dope dyeing method. The project results will be disseminated to professional fields to gain insights in business potentials. Students will be involved through the project to broaden the impact. The FuntureTex consortium is made by experts in areas of fungal colorants, dope dyeing and business outlook, ensuring a proper execution of the project. In line with the EU’s goal of circular and sustainable economy, the research result will bring a potential dual solution to the environmental challenges of textile industries.
About 35-40 kton used mattresses available yearly for the recycling only in the Netherlands. Mattresses that are offered at recycling companies, municipal yards and retailers often find their way to incinerators. However, several fraction components of used mattresses can be reused/resale in a useful manner. One of the mattress fractions is textile cover with residue of Polyurethane (PU) foam. Effective removal of PU foam would enable further reuse of textile materials. Use of harsh chemicals/ thermo-, photo-, oxidative, processes including hydrolysis, aminolysis, phosphorolysis, glycolysis etc [1,2] for PU foam degradation is not a good solution, since it will cause non-specific damage to textiles and other parts, making recycle/ reuse difficult. Therefore, Mattress Recycling Europe BV (MRE) is looking for an eco-friendly mild process for selective degradation of PU foam component. PU is a mixed polymer; therefore, it is important to establish the physio-chemical nature of PU before identifying suitable and sustainable degradation route. The proposed solution is selective degradation of PU polymer using biotechnology. Enzymatic bio-catalysis enables a targeted, specific reaction at mild process conditions (pH, temperature) without harming other components in the process. Primarily hydrolase class of enzymes is assumed to be among the most effective options for the proposed degradation of PU foam residue [3,4]. From previous research, adding mechanical shear provides a synergistic effect for enzyme catalysed reaction [5-7]. Therefore, within the scope of this exploratory practice-oriented project, technical feasibility of bio-catalyst and shear (including well established PU degradation techniques) towards the selective degradation of PU foam residue attached to textile part from used mattresses will be explored together with cost estimation of the overall process and re-usability of enzymes using suitable immobilisation technique, addressing an urgent industrial need in the field of green chemistry.
