Multifunctional biodegradable aerogels as an alternative to plastic
New materials based on recycled rubber for domestic, industrial and transport applications
May 31, 2023
Industrial polymers of high added value from recycling devulcanized elastomers
May 23, 202326/05/2023
The research group Eco-friendly Plastics and Composites (e-PLASCOM) at the Universitat Politècnica Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC) is participating in the European Advanced Engineering and Research of aeroGels for Environment and Life Sciences (AERoGELS) project. This project is designed to bring together the knowledge of academic, industrial and regulatory experts on the research and technology of aerogels at European scale.
Aerogels are a type of ultralight material comprised of a gel in which the solvent is replaced by air without collapsing the three-dimensional structure that has previously been formed. Its structure is highly porous and confers unique properties to the aerogels, such as low density, a large specific surface area and low thermal conductivity. This makes aerogels suitable for various applications, such as the absorption of pollution, controlled drug release, scaffolds for biomedical applications, thermal insulation and supercondensers.
In this context, the research group e-PLASCOM is working to develop multifunctional aerogels formed from natural or biodegradable polymers, so that these can be environmentally friendly alternatives that can replace, at least partially, the non-renewable materials used to date.
Obtaining multifunctional aerogels of natural origin could be a way to create sustainable foamed structures with considerable mechanical features, low thermal conductivity and high thermal resistance. The achievement of these objectives will facilitate and promote the application of biological-based materials to sectors such as automation, transport, construction or packaging, to address some of the current European challenges such as the circular economy.
Budget and funding
The Project is financed by the European Union and is part of the European ‘COST ACTION CA18125’, for science and technology cooperation. Its duration is four years (end date: October 2023).
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- The research group Plastics and Ecological Composites (e-PLASCOM) of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC), and the Catalan Plastics Center (CCP), work in a project that aims to design ad hoc natural rubber-based composites, with specific compositions and geometries, to be optimally integrated into both EC and BC technologies at prototype level.
- Researchers in the Polymer Materials and Textile Chemistry (POLQUITEX) research group of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC) participate in the WAVE project, who aim is to recycle elastomeric waste (such as tyres and scraps from building roofs), for its subsequent reuse and recovery in various industrial sectors (automobile, civil, electrical).
- The research group Polyfunctional Polymeric Materials (POLY2) of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC) will work on the project CELICOIDS - Nanohelicoid metamaterials templated by cellulose nanocrystals with end-tethered polymers. As part of this project, it will develop new metamaterials −materials designed to have a property that is not found in nature – that can increase the spectroscopic sensitivity to distinguish molecular chirality.
