CIQUS: Chemical research for ecological transition

The Singular Centre for Research in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Materials (CiQUS), a member of the CIGUS network, spotlights the environmental goals that represent a major challenge to be tackled through cutting-edge research and the development of technologies that contribute to sustainability.

The fight against climate change, pollution control or the sustainable use of resources are all major challenges that are impossible to tackle without progress in the field of Chemistry. The recent success of the call for grants for Strategic Projects geared towards Ecological Transition and Digital Transition is a further boost for CiQUS’s commitment to environmental protection, through research conducted mainly in the centre’s areas of functional materials and synthetic technologies.

The aim of these grants from the Spanish State Research Agency is to drive scientific competitiveness and international leadership through research geared towards ecological and digital transition. All the projects submitted by CiQUS in this call for proposals have been selected. A total of seven projects focused on ecological transition have been approved (the centre is also a collaborator on a further two USC projects), obtaining 1.3 million euros in funding.

Propositions and objectives

Two of the selected proposals will focus on improving energy storage in batteries, a key area in obtaining energy-efficient devices. In the BANZAI project, María Giménez and her group will attempt to optimise a new electrocatalyst for zinc-air rechargeable batteries, whose prototype will be developed by CIDETEC. The aim is to improve the performance and durability of these batteries, a promising alternative using high-availability, low-cost and safe materials. In turn, Pablo del Pino’s team is involved in a project (MOFSiAN) to create silicon anodes for lithium-ion batteries in collaboration with the USC’s Institute of Materials (iMATUS). CiQUS researchers will focus on the design and synthesis of nanomaterials derived from MOFs (Metal-Organic Framework). These materials will comprise the key components of the inks to be used in the 3D printing of electrodes in the next generation of lithium-ion batteries.

Rafael Ramos and Francisco Rivadulla’s project (MEMTHERM) also seeks to increase energy efficiency, in this case by designing a solid-state thermal memory. This device uses local electric fields to control the movement of ions in oxides and thus modify their thermal conductivity.

The electronics industry is another sector where exciting progress is being made in the incorporation of alternative technologies, with bioelectronics providing a case in point. In the ProPEL project, CiQUS principal investigator Eugenio Vázquez, together with a consortium led by the CIC biomaGUNE, will seek to develop a technological platform based on protein conductivity. CiQUS researchers will be responsible for the design of peptides to make conductive fibres for application on sustainable or biocompatible electronic devices and energy storage.

A further two proposals from CiQUS will attempt to transform greenhouse gases into other valuable feedstocks using light activated reactions. In the LIMEVA project, Martín Fañanás and his team will drive the development of new light-driven catalytic routes to transform methane directly into high value-added products. Their work will explore new, clean and sustainable synthetic pathways, trying to establish the basis for a new technology for methane conversion that is both energy efficient and environmentally friendly. On the other hand, Manuel Nappi’s ViSGap project will focus on other residual gases, in this case carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O) and sulphur dioxide (SO2), and the use of visible light or sunlight to convert them into organic feedstocks and biodegradable polymers, without resorting to the use of metals during the process.

In recent years, the alarming increase in environmental pollution levels has boosted the demand for chemical sensors. The SENSATION project, in which researcher Diego Peña is involved, brings together experts from different fields coordinated by the ICN2 to join forces in the design of graphene-based nanomaterials for use in selective gas detection.

Excellence in research and avant-garde techniques

The CiQUS team, one of the centres whose research quality and impact has been accredited by the Galician Autonomous Government (Xunta de Galicia) with the CIGUS seal, will be responsible for designing and synthesising the chemical precursors of the graphene-based materials to be obtained by on-surface synthesis. These materials will be used to obtain new gas sensors for use in environmental monitoring and diagnostic technologies. Finally, two proposals will tackle another major pollutant, plastic waste. Researcher Manuel Ortuño will focus on the chemical recycling of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) using ionic liquids, an environmentally-friendly alternative to the recycling processes currently in use. The D-FACT project will use advanced computational techniques to access to atomic-level information on the role these ionic liquids play in the various stages of depolymerisation, which could accelerate the discovery of new catalytic systems in this area. The recycling of these plastics is also central to the PETzyme project, where CiQUS researchers, working in collaboration with the CRETUS Environmental Biotechnology Group, will develop enzymatic technology for PET recycling. José Manuel Martínez-Costas and his team will use the patented technology platform based on the muNS-Mi protein to encapsulate two enzymes of interest (PETase and MHETase) and obtain a nanosphere capable of carrying out the serial reactions for the depolymerisation of PET.