Greening chemistry for a faster transition to a circular, waste-free society: that is what ARC CBBC (Advanced Research Center Chemical Building Blocks Consortium) stands for. The consortium is a partnership between Utrecht University, the University of Groningen, Eindhoven University of Technology and partners from the chemical industry, such as AkzoNobel, Shell and BASF. NWO is co-founder and partner of this national organization.
Greening of chemistry
The chemical manufacturing industry faces a precarious balance. It is certainly not easy to meet today's needs for innovation, acceleration and comfort without compromising the demands of the future. Consumers, politicians, industry and science all want something different, and these wishes must be brought together. As a society, we are tasked with scrutinizing currently used materials and production routines and reinventing chemistry on an industrial scale.
It is certainly possible to make industrial production more sustainable. ARC CBBC brings together the best minds from science and industrial R&D to learn how. Together they think about the design of the chemical building blocks that make up the products we use in everyday life.
At ARC CBBC, top researchers and the chemical industry work together on medium- and long-term solutions to the difficult problems facing our society.
(Prof. Bert Weckhuysen, scientific director of ARC CBBC)
ARC CBBC investigates how current production processes are structured and how chemical products and processes are applied, and looks at this with a critical eye. Our public-private organization was founded in 2016 as a partnership between universities, researchers, companies and ministries, and facilitates their close collaboration in multidisciplinary research in the fields of chemistry, physics and materials and process technology. In this way, together we form the chemical building blocks of tomorrow.
Research program
ARC CBBC approaches the greening of chemistry in multilateral and bilateral programs based on three themes: the materials transition, the raw materials transition and the energy transition. All topics within these themes are researched by interdisciplinary teams of postdocs and PhD students with the relevant expertise, in collaboration with industry partners.
The importance of the raw material and material transition
The energy transition is receiving a lot of attention these days. ARC CBBC finds the raw materials and materials transition just as important. To ensure that all three of these transitions go well, we must consider them as one whole. We need materials that last longer, have more functions and are easier to recycle at the end of their life. At the same time, we must look for other raw materials for the production of our materials, and investigate alternatives to the use of fossil fuels in our production processes, such as biomass or even CO2.
From now on, we must regard the contents of garbage trucks as a source of raw materials.
Maartje Otten (PhD candidate at ARC CBBC)
Maartje Otten is a PhD candidate at Utrecht University, where she conducts research into plastic recycling. In collaboration with BASF, Shell and Nobian, she conducts research into the possibility of breaking down plastics into their original building blocks and then creating new products with new properties and new applications. This provides a unique link between fundamental and applied research, bringing the raw materials transition one step closer.
Unique infrastructure for groundbreaking new chemistry
Our hubs are central to our ambitions. ARC CBBC is set up as a virtual institute around three university hubs, each with their own expertise. The University of Groningen (homogeneous catalysis), Eindhoven University of Technology (process technology) and Utrecht University (heterogeneous catalysis) all provide laboratory space, state-of-the-art equipment, financial support and personnel to the consortium. In addition, the consortium is supported by technicians and tenure-track researchers from ARC CBBC, all of whom contribute to our mission.
ARC CBBC is an open consortium, based on the principles of academic need-to-know and industrial need-to-have, where both are given free rein. We provide the academic knowledge, limitless curiosity and manpower, and the universities provide the necessary materials and equipment. In the meantime, our industrial partners guarantee its application in practice. Together we work on faster circular solutions within the chemical industry.
It is clear that we need sustainable alternatives for the chemistry and materials of tomorrow.
George Hermens (alumnus of ARC CBBC)
George Hermens did PhD research at ARC CBBC at the University of Groningen and developed a fully biobased paint. In collaboration with AkzoNobel, he completely redesigned the production route, so that biobased raw materials and biobased additives can be used more easily in the coating. This shows that coatings can be made completely biobased, and it is also a step towards scaling up for practical application.
But ARC CBBC's research does not stop there. Suppose that more durable coatings with self-healing properties are developed based on research. Or that the harmful CO2 we emit every day can be used as a raw material for the production of chemicals. Can our scientists research, build and improve catalysts? Can we use light as a thermometer? Can we develop new research tools?
ARC CBBC combines academic and industrial expertise to turn our vision of a sustainable chemical industry into a tangible reality. For more information about ARC CBBC, visit the website: arc-cbbc.nl.
Source: NWO.nl
