‘Ontwerpen met biobased plastics’ is de eindpublicatie van het project “Design Challenges with Biobased Plastics”. In dit onderzoeksproject deed de HvA, samen met diverse mkb-bedrijven onderzoek naar de kennis een tools die ontwerpers nodig hebben om biobased plastics, kunststoffen van hernieuwbare materialen, toe te passen. De publicatie gaat in op de kansen die biobased plastics bieden en biedt praktische tools, inspirerende voorbeelden en handreikingen die het ontwerpen met deze materialen makkelijker maken.
Abstract: Aureobasidium is omnipresent and can be isolated from air, water bodies, soil, wood, and other plant materials, as well as inorganic materials such as rocks and marble. A total of 32 species of this fungal genus have been identified at the level of DNA, of which Aureobasidium pullulans is best known. Aureobasidium is of interest for a sustainable economy because it can be used to produce a wide variety of compounds, including enzymes, polysaccharides, and biosurfactants. Moreover, it can be used to promote plant growth and protect wood and crops. To this end, Aureobasidium cells adhere to wood or plants by producing extracellular polysaccharides, thereby forming a biofilm. This biofilm provides a sustainable alternative to petrol-based coatings and toxic chemicals. This and the fact that Aureobasidium biofilms have the potential of self-repair make them a potential engineered living material avant la lettre. Key points: •Aureobasidium produces products of interest to the industry •Aureobasidium can stimulate plant growth and protect crops •Biofinish of A. pullulans is a sustainable alternative to petrol-based coatings •Aureobasidium biofilms have the potential to function as engineered living materials.
Technology has always been a very distinctive feature of human existence. Technology is to humans what nature is to other organisms: our host. Man is nature, but through technology – humans came to stand against nature and its biodiversity; technology is now a global enterprise, advancing on a scale and pace that has never been seen before. The paper argues that this poses a threat not only to the planet and biodiversity but above all to humans themselves. A psychological perspective is chosen, that of the thinking and feeling person, which is contrasted with emerging (smart) technologies. It is concluded that man is not a rational “machine”, but a small-scale storyteller, a provider of meaning, especially emotionally involved with each other. Systems and standardization stand in the way. But as globalized humanity faces the dangers of diminishing (bio- and cultural) diversity, we need the unifying power of technology to restore balance.
MULTIFILE
The textile and clothing sector belongs to the world’s biggest economic activities. Producing textiles is highly energy-, water- and chemical-intensive and consequently the textile industry has a strong impact on environment and is regarded as the second greatest polluter of clean water. The European textile industry has taken significant steps taken in developing sustainable manufacturing processes and materials for example in water treatment and the development of biobased and recycled fibres. However, the large amount of harmful and toxic chemicals necessary, especially the synthetic colourants, i.e. the pigments and dyes used to colour the textile fibres and fabrics remains a serious concern. The limited range of alternative natural colourants that is available often fail the desired intensity and light stability and also are not provided at the affordable cost . The industrial partners and the branch organisations Modint and Contactgroep Textiel are actively searching for sustainable alternatives and have approached Avans to assist in the development of the colourants which led to the project Beauti-Fully Biobased Fibres project proposal. The objective of the Beauti-Fully Biobased Fibres project is to develop sustainable, renewable colourants with improved light fastness and colour intensity for colouration of (biobased) man-made textile fibres Avans University of Applied Science, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, Wageningen University & Research, Maastricht University and representatives from the textile industry will actively collaborate in the project. Specific approaches have been identified which build on knowledge developed by the knowledge partners in earlier projects. These will now be used for designing sustainable, renewable colourants with the improved quality aspects of light fastness and intensity as required in the textile industry. The selected approaches include refining natural extracts, encapsulation and novel chemical modification of nano-particle surfaces with chromophores.
In de klimaattop COP28 in Dubai is een akkoord gesloten over de afbouw van fossiele brandstoffen en grondstoffen. Dit benadrukt de noodzaak voor het overstappen naar duurzamere materialen en grondstoffen. Om dit te versnellen en kaders te stellen aan wat kan en mag is de EU-Green Deal opgesteld. Hierin komen allerlei zaken aan bod, waaronder de duurzaamheid van materialen. Eén van de belangrijke pijlers binnen de Green Deal is biodegradatie. Materialen van de toekomst moeten biodegradatie vertonen om ophoping in het milieu te voorkomen. De industrie heeft een leidende functie binnen deze overstap naar duurzame materialen, zo ook de verfindustrie. Eigenschappen van verf worden veelal door drie factoren bepaald: bindmiddel, pigment en vulstoffen. In dit BioBinder project bundelen Wydo NBD en Koninklijke van Wijhe Verf de krachten met het lectoraat Biorefinery van de Hanzehogeschool Groningen om een biodegradeerbaar alternatief te zoeken voor bindmiddelen die in verf gebruikt worden. Deze bindmiddelen zijn nu veelal gebaseerd op grondstoffen gewonnen vanuit aardolie, zoals styreen en vinylacetaat. Het innovatieve idee in dit project is het gebruik van polyhydroxyalkanoaten (PHA’s) als bindmiddel in verf en coatings. PHA’s zijn biogebaseerd èn biodegradeerbare polyesters die door micro-organismen geproduceerd worden als bron van reserve-energie. Er zijn zo’n 150 verschillende bouwstenen bekend waaruit deze biopolymeren opgebouwd kunnen worden, waaronder bouwstenen die onverzadigde groepen in de zij-keten bevatten. Binnen BioBinder wordt onderzocht of PHA’s middels fermentatietechnologie geproduceerd kunnen worden met voldoende gehalte aan deze functionele bouwstenen. En of deze ingebouwde functionaliteit vervolgens (chemische) modificatie en derivatisering mogelijk maakt, zoals (oxidatieve) vernetting. Zo’n netwerk van gekoppelde polymeerketens na vernetting is van belang voor het vormen van een stevige en duurzame verflaag. De opgedane kennis van dit project kan leiden tot een strategie om PHA-gebaseerde binders te ontwikkelen en te produceren die de gewenste verfbinder-eigenschappen bezitten voor biogebaseerde biodegradeerbare verven.
Synthetic ultra-black (UB) materials, which demonstrate exceptionally high absorbance (>99%) of visible light incident on their surface, are currently used as coatings in photovoltaic cells and numerous other applications. Most commercially available UB coatings are based on an array of carbon nanotubes, which are produced at relatively high temperature and result in numerous by-products. In addition, UB nanotube coatings require harsh application conditions and are very susceptible to abrasion. As a result, these coatings are currently obtained using a manufacturing process with relatively high costs, high energy consumption and low sustainability. Interestingly, an UB coating based on a biologically derived pigment could provide a cheaper and more sustainable alternative. Specifically, GLO Biotics proposes to create UB pigment by taking a bio-mimetic approach and replicate structures found in UB deep-sea fish. A recent study[1] has actually shown that specific fish have melanosomes in their skin with particular dimensions that allow absorption of up to 99.9% of incident light. In addition to this, recent advances in bacterial engineering have demonstrated that it is possible to create bacteria-derived melanin particles with very similar dimensions to the melanosomes in aforementioned fish. During this project, the consortium partners will combine both scientific observations in an attempt to provide the proof-of-concept for developing an ultra-black coating using bacteria-derived melanin particles as bio-based, sustainable pigment. For this, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences (Zuyd) and Maastricht University (UM) collaborate with GLO Biotics in the development of the innovative ‘BLACKTERIA’ UB coating technology. The partners will attempt at engineering an E. coli expression system and adapt its growth in order to produce melanin particles of desired dimensions. In addition, UM will utilize their expertise in industrial coating research to provide input for experimental set-up and the development of a desired UB coating using the bacteria-derived melanin particles as pigment.
