AcroBioPLAST 2024-26

AcroBioPlast

ACceleration of the BIOdegradation process of bioPLASTics to improve their application in biomedical devices

 

Project POCTEFA  
01/01/2024 – 31/12/2026

The Project

A new POCTEFA project has just been approved to employ sugar-based materials in Bioplastics.

The interregional collaborative project involves a multidisciplinary group of researchers from the University of Basque Country (UPV/EHU, POLYMAT institute, Basque country, Spain), University of Pau and Pays de l'Adour (UPPA, IPREM institute, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France), University of Zaragoza (INMA institute, Aragon, Spain) and the start-up company Polimerbio (Gipuzcoa, Spain).

The AcroBioPlast project will be coordinated by Prof. Alejandro J. Müller and Dr. Ali Abouzadeh from POLYMAT and UPV/EHU. The project will receive close to €1 million in funding from the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) through the Interreg POCTEFA program.

The AcroBioPlast project aims to promote research and innovation capabilities within the framework of sustainable development of the cross-border region and strengthen cooperation between research centers and companies to accelerate the biodegradation of bioplastics, turning them into value-added products in biomedicine. While excessive sugar consumption is associated with health problems in human nutrition, certain sugar-based compounds such as polysaccharides can indeed enhance bioplastic biodegradability and improve their application in biomedical applications. However, in industry, the incorporation of these natural sugar-based materials in the formulation of bioplastics is yet to be developed.

Coordinators

Prof. Alejandro J. Müller and Dr. Ali Abouzadeh to UPV/EHU POLYMAT laboratory

Partners

The Palois team

The Physico-Chemistry of Surfaces and Polymer Materials (PCM) department at IPREM institute (Université de Pau & Pays Adour, CNRS UMR5254, France) integrates multidisciplinary skills in polymer science from chemistry to physico-chemistry and physics. IPREM-PCM develops research focused on three main research fields : Materials for storage and energy conversion, Materials and sustainability and functional materials.

Several researchers and Engineers of IPREM-PCM are involved in ACROBIOPLAST project. Their research focuses on the design of innovative advanced polymer materials while addressing challenges of sustainability.

Maud Save  Maud Save, CNRS senior researcher,  films or polymeric emulsifiers, incorporating sustainable synthesis processes and precursors derived from biomass. Laurent Rubatat is associate professor in polymer physics at IPREM research laboratory at UPPA, France. His research activity is dedicated to polymer hierarchical structures and its correlation with intrinsic material properties. Susana Fernandes is Professor and Chair in “Marine Bioresources Valorization & Marine Materials”. She has experience in natural polymers (chemistry and characterization), chemoenzymatic modification of biopolymers, and in the processing of polysaccharide-based (bio)materials - using bio-inspired synthesis & design principles. Virginie Pellerin is Engineer with expertise in microscopy technique (AFM, SEM). Anthony Laffore is Engineer providing his support in polymer characterization by thermal analysis (TGA, DSC) and rheology. Celine Clouet is administrative manager for IPREM. Celine Clouet is administrative manager for IPREM.

News

Wednesday 06 March 2024 - Kick-off meeting for the AcroBioPlast project

Funded by Interreg-POCTEFA and hosted by POLYMAT, this exciting meeting brought together partner members from EHU/UPV, UPPA, UNIZAR and Polimerbio to launch the project and discuss the challenges we will face. We will focus on accelerating the biodegradation process of bioplastics, with the aim of improving their applicability in biomedical devices. We look forward to finding out what lies ahead in this exciting inter-institutional collaboration!

The project has been 65% cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Interreg V-A Spain France Andorra programme (POCTEFA 2021-2027). POCTEFA aims to reinforce the economic and social integration of the French–Spanish–Andorran border.