A consortium of European researchers, including Cristina Silva Pereira Lab at ITQB NOVA, was awarded 3.7 million euros to produce polymers truly inspired by nature.
The project "FLow Induced Phase Transitions, A new low energy paradigm for polymer processing" is led by the University of Sheffield, Uk, with partners from Portugal (ITQB NOVA), UK (University of Oxford and Oxford Biomaterials), Finland (VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Spinnova Oy), Denmark (Aarhus University) and Germany (Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden). Flow Induced Phase Transitions (FLIPT) is a disruptive process which researchers believe could hold the key to a new low energy paradigm for polymer processing, and now they have been awarded 3.7 million euros to test their vision for the next three years.
To address these challenges, the consortia combines the expertise of world-leading groups in natural materials, polymer synthesis and material processing alongside practical input from two SME partners and larger European companies. The goal of Cristina Silva Pereira’s Lab at ITQB NOVA in this project will be to re-evolve candidate biopolymers into aquamelts, particularly of plant polyesters.
More information: http://www.itqb.unl.pt/news/using-silk-for-a-better-planet
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Source: http://www.itqb.unl.pt/
published 02.September.2016