Chemistry

More than half of the materials used in the textile industry are made from fossil raw materials. Polyester and polyurethane fibers, which are cheap but energy-intensive and pollute the environment, are particularly popular. The production of bio-based chemicals on an industrial scale is now intended to drive the textile industry's turnaround toward sustainability. To this end, the Finnish specialty chemicals company UPM Biochemicals and the German outdoor specialist VAUDE have agreed on a partnership.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) has a bad reputation as a greenhouse gas. In order to achieve the climate targets, experts believe that it is far from enough to reduce emissions of the climate gas. Some of it must be permanently bound. There is great potential in the material use of CO2 as a raw material, because the carbon it contains is an important basic material for industry. Sustainable and innovative ways of using CO2 could therefore relieve the climate and benefit industry at the same time.

From prostheses to children's toys, car parts or sporting goods: The possible applications of 3D printing seem limitless and show how popular this technology has become. The range of plastics used in this process is constantly growing, and with it the potential to manufacture bio-based products from them. However, in order to print highly complex three-dimensional objects, so-called support structures are often required.

For many people, pasta is a natural part of their meals. For 250 million people worldwide, however, such food causes serious health problems. The reason: they suffer from celiac disease - an intolerance to gluten, a protein found in many types of grain. Although there are already gluten-free products on the market, the baked goods lack the right texture. This is because gluten is a gluten protein that provides stability to air bubbles in dough and bread and gives volume to pasta. Without the supporting gluten framework, the dough collapses.

Bioethanol is not only a high-quality and sustainable fuel that has accounted for five to ten percent of E10 fuel for many years. The biomass-derived molecule is also ideally suited as a feedstock for the production of biobased chemicals. With its new "Biobased Chemicals" business unit, CropEnergies therefore aims to specifically tap into new markets outside the mobility sector.

Foamed plastics are frequently used for packaging. They are mostly made of polystyrene, polyethylene or polyurethane - and are thus ultimately based on petroleum. The production process is clearly not sustainable, and the situation is often no better at the product's end of life: After a single use, they are usually discarded - even if done correctly, foamed materials are rarely recycled today. Instead, they end up in thermal recycling.

Only recently, traceless launched the biomaterial they had developed with a pilot product in the form of a sock holder. Just under three years after its founding, the young bioeconomy start-up is now going into large-scale production. The team led by traceless founders Johanna Baare and Anne Lamp has just received a grant of 5 million euros from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment.

In agriculture, large quantities of fertilizers are often used to increase yields per unit area. However, this practice has long been controversial because it damages soils, the environment and the climate alike. In addition, heat and drought are putting increasing pressure on soils and crops, leading to crop failures. How can we prevent soils from drying out while increasing yields to ensure food security in the future? A study led by the Leibniz Center for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) provides promising results.