Grants

Hybrid ELectrosynthesis of Value-Added chemicals (HELVA)

M.ERA-NET project will involve research teams from Poland, Brazil, and Spain.

Total Amount of the Grant: EUR 959,000

Duration: Oct 2023 - Sep 2026

Project coordinator:

The Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), Spain

Prof. F. Pelayo García de Arquer, ICFO, Spain.

Partner 1

ICRI-BioM & Lodz University of Technology (TUL), Poland

Funding agency: NCN, Poland

• dr hab. Vignesh Kumaravel (PI), ICRI-BioM.
• Prof. dr hab. Piotr Paneth (Co-PI), ICRI-BioM
• Prof. dr hab. inz. Olga Marchut-Mikołajczyk (Co-PI), TUL

Partner 2
Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Brazil.

• Prof. Cassius V. Stevani, USP, Brazil.

Abstract:

Rationale: the manufacturing of chemicals and carbon-based materials still relies on fossil fuels and energy/carbon-intensive processes. HELVA proposes an alternative approach using CO2 as the carbon source to realize complex carbon-based non-petrochemical plastics powered by renewable electricity.

Objectives: HELVA pursues the e-synthesis of polyhydrohyalkanoates (PHAs) from captured CO2 using a tandem system approach that couples CO2 electrolysis and microbial bio-upgrade. We will pursue these goals through advances in catalyst, system, and reactor design, as well as microbe engineering to promote PHA metabolic pathways. Our final objective is the synthesis of PHA at concentrations above 50 g/L.

Potential applications: The realization of sustainable biodegradable plastics.

Impact and potential benefits: The proposed technology would offer a path for the sustainable biological manufacturing of non-petrochemical renewable plastics, mitigating global emissions and warming.

More details of the HELVA project are available at https://helva.eu

Cooperativity in duty of chiroptoelectronics: functional supramolecular polymers on surfaces as electro- and photoactive chiral materials

SONATA 17 (project with second highest score out of 110 evaluated in the panel).

Total Amount of the Grant: 1 794 010 PLN

Duration: Sept 2022 - Sep 2025

Abstract

mimicking nature, so taking inspiration from the (bio)matter which properties and resulting functions were evolving for millions of years, is one of the most effective strategies of research in materials science. Chirality is an inherent property of biomaterials, which in the simplest meaning states that the object is non-superimposable on its mirror image. Helices are great examples of chiral objects, which are created e. G. By biopolymers, complex macromolecules constituing living organisms, like proteins or dna. Each helix possess two geometrical parameters, namely the twist (together with its chiral handedness) and the pitch of the helix, which in biological or synthetic soft matter systems, may be modulated by the external stimuli, like temperature, ph or the solvent effects. Light, i. E. The flux of energy, is an alternative stimulus. It selectively interacts with chiral matter, in a sense that the helix reflects only part of the radiation. The properties of the reflected light are determined by the pitch of the helix and the clockwise or counterclockwise sense of the helix twist.

Goal: the aim of the project lies in the understanding of the influence of the surface (bearing different surface energy), on the morphology and properties of helical supramolecular polymers. The goal is to verify if the structural features of the polymer nanostructures deposited on surface are capable to improve charge transport properties, or to generate enhanced interactions with light, further copromoted by the 1d orientation of nanostructures.

Research plan: in order to verify the hypotheses posted in the project, three research tasks will be realized: (1) development of the effective deposition methods of unidirectionally oriented polymer nanostructures onto solid substrates, (2) development of the complementary methodology of the analysis of the morphology (in micro and nano-scale) and the optical properties of the surface nanostructures, and (3) fabrication and characterization of the photoactive devices comprising the optimized chiral light-sensitive nanomaterials.

Significance: understanding of the processess behind the expression of chirality at the interface between the chiral material and the solid substrate is crucial from the point of view of realizing chiral surfaces, which are capable e. G. To selectively adsorb one of the enantiomers of the drug. Gaining knowledge about design of the supramolecular polymers, which helical on-surface structure will be known before their deposition on the surface, will lead to the development of a new class of smart materials. It will enable the polymer chemists to design the functional polymeric nanostructures, which besides their sensing properties connected with the chirality-selective interaction with light, will additionally possess another desirable features. These additional features are inherent to the dynamic systems like supramolecular polymers, and represent responsiveness for stimuli.

Keywords: supramolecular polymers, thin films, organic electronics, chiroptics, surface physico-chemistry

Antimicrobial, antioxidative and electroactive ultrathin polymeric films for advanced skin wound dressings

OPUS LAP, UMO-2020/39/I/ST5/02108

Polish Partners:

• Dr hab. TUL Prof. Joanna Pietrasik, Lodz University of Technology (with ICRI-BioM)
• Dr hab. Agata Przekora-Kuśmierz from Medical University of Lublin

German Partners:

• Prof. Frank Rosenau, Ulm University
• Prof. Tanja Weil,Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research

Starting data: 03.01.2022

Ending data: 02.01.2025

Polish funds: 2 393 580 PLN

Study on the dehalogenation mechanisms of typical halogenated organic pollutants by F430 coenzyme purified from methanogenic bacteria

SHENG 3

Total Amount of the Grant: PLN 876,196

Duration: Jan 2024 - Jan 2027

Abstract

Degradation of organic pollutants by metal coenzyme purified from organisms is a frontier research field in both environmental science and bioinorganic chemistry. Methanogens, which are widely distributed in nature, have been proved to be powerful in reductive dehalogenation, while F430 coenzyme has been proved to play a key role. However, the mechanism of reductive dehalogenation reaction by F430 coenzyme has not been revealed yet. This project aims to reveal the complex F430 dehalogenation mechanism through kinetic and analytical experiments, quantum chemical calculations and stable isotope fractionation technologies. Some kinds of halogenated pollutants will be studied, including halogenated alkanes, and alkenes. The results can help us to understand the thermodynamic feasibility, conversion rate and product formation path of F430 dehalogenation. The implementation of this project will further expand the theory and practice of the dual element stable isotope fractionation as a "mechanism probe" and develop linear free energy relationship models for predicting the transformation of halogenated organic pollutants by F430 coenzyme, the results of which can be used to quickly evaluate the degradation and detoxification effect of the dehalogenation process by F430. The results will provide an important theoretical basis for the application of F430 coenzyme and its synthetic compounds in remediation of contaminated sites. Combining experimental work with theoretical predictions proved over the years to be ideal approach to studies of complex reactions since not all steps are usually amenable for experimental scrutiny and experimental data in such systems need theoretical support. The complementarity and practical collaborative skills between PIs of both sides has been demonstrated by the joint publications in high quality journals (Li Ji, Chenchen Wang, Shujing Ji, Kasper P. Kepp, and Piotr Paneth, ACS Catalysis, 2017, 7, 5294–5307; Lihong Chai, Huanni Zhang, Runqian Song, Haohan Yang, Haiying Yu, Piotr Paneth, Kasper P. Kepp, Miki Akamatsu and Li Ji, Environmental Science & Technology, 2021, 55, 14037–14050; Li Ji, Huanni Zhang, Wen Ding, Runqian Song, Ye Han, Haiying Yu, and Piotr Paneth, Environmental Science & Technology, 2023, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c04755). The bilateral cooperation in this project will further promote the application of isotope fractionation studied by both experimental and theoretical methods in revealing complex biotransformation mechanisms of pollutants.