BioPhenom

The BioPhenom project aims to address the significant challenge posed by the widespread use of unsustainable petrochemicals, many of which are substances of very high concern (SVHC) due to their harmful effects on the environment and human health. Some industrial practices use SVHC to formulate and improve the functionality of wooden, thermoset, and thermoplastic materials. These materials are toxic, non-recyclable, and accumulate in our ecosystems, thus prompting an urgent need for safer alternatives. To deal with the safety and environmental issues related to the manufacture and disposal of chemicals and materials, the European Green Deal and its ambition for zero pollution, has introduced safe and sustainable by design bio-based solutions that can accelerate the transition towards a circular bioeconomy and reduce waste. Leveraging advanced technologies and processes (i.e. fast pyrolysis, liquid extraction), the BioPhenom project seeks to exploit biophenols isolated from industrial biomass sidestreams to produce biobased flame retardants and replace SVHC in the development of safe, sustainable, and recyclable materials (i.e. wood products, CF thermosets, thermoplastic composites) for different applications. The selection of sidestreams and the most promising applications for the materials developed in the project will be determined by a scoping study, and the process of design, testing, and benchmarking against material functionality and application will follow the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) principles established by the EU Joint Research Centre.

Website

https://biophenomproject.eu/