EU-funded Biomac project seeks participants for bio-based nanomaterial advancements
13 Dec 2022 --- Biomac – a Horizon 2020 project – is launching an open call on December 15 through which it will select five companies as project participants to help pioneer bio-based nanomaterials. Participants will be chosen from the automotive, agricultural, food packaging, construction and printed electronics business sectors.
Meanwhile, Aimplas – a plastic technology center – is working with Biomac to develop nanomaterial food packaging solutions.
After two years of planning, Biomac has fostered an Open Innovation Test Bed (OITB), where technologies and solutions utilizing nano-enabled bio-based materials are upscaled and prepared for market applications. The project will focus on small and medium European enterprises.
Biomac’s program aims to boost and sustain innovation in the European bioeconomy by reducing the time-to-market of novel nanotechnologies and reducing costs and risks. However, many technical, economic and regulatory barriers still hinder the full deployment of bio-based polymers and nanomaterials on the market and limit the implementation of solutions based on such materials.
Horizon 2020 was the EU’s research and innovation funding program from 2014-2020, with a budget of nearly €80 billion (US$84.4 billion).
Nanoparticles for food packaging
Aimplas’ pilot line works in two test cases within Biomac’s project. The project is focusing on agricultural applications to develop polylactic acid-based (PLA) masterbatches with nanoparticles to be used in formulations for mulching applications and PLA copolymers for injection molding applications.
In food packaging solutions, Aimplas is working to develop PLA nanocomposite formulations for blown film applications. Blown film is typically used to produce various products, ranging from simple monolayer films for bags to very complex multilayer structures used in food packaging. 
Biomac is looking for European companies to develop food packaging solutions with nano-enabled, bio-based materials.
Biomac’s program
The OITB will begin once Biomac’s pilot lines are validated through five internal test cases in the automotive, agricultural, food packaging, construction and printed electronics industries. Once completed, the project is ready to launch an open call for possible stakeholders.
Biomac will offer its participants research centers in the field of bio-nanomaterial. An official online presentation of the Biomac Open Call will be held on December 14.
With the new Horizon 2020 project, Biomac aims to reduce these barriers and foster the European bioeconomy. Biomac has 33 partners in academia, institutions and companies, with 12 of these originating from European countries. The project has received funding from the EU’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under Grant Agreement No. 952941.
Nanomaterial innovations
In related developments, the HiBarFilm2 consortium collaborated to create a monomaterial polyolefin flexible film to replace traditional, hard-to-recycle multilayered films by using plasma functionalized nanomaterials. The materials used are beneficial at preventing food waste but difficult to reprocess and usually result in landfilled plastic.
With COVID-19 still on the radar, companies have maintained a focus on antimicrobial packaging to reduce the spread of viruses and put consumers’ minds at ease. One way of developing bacteria-resistant packaging is by implementing nanomaterials.
Also, researchers at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique in Canada developed a packaging film capable of keeping strawberries fresh for up to twelve days. The packaging film contains essential oils and nanoparticles, which possess antimicrobial properties to keep away bacteria such as mold.
Similarly, the EU has funded NanoPack’s films based on a combination of natural nanomaterials and essential oils to move the packaging industry toward antimicrobial packaging during the age of COVID-19.
Edited by Sabine Waldeck
