On June 18th the Technical University Munich presented a broad range of bio-based solutions at its open house day. There, Dr. Amelie Skopp and her team of young researchers presented the PERFECOAT project and discussed the potential for bio-based coatings in the industry.

Further information is available at https://www.konaro.de/konaro-tag-der-offenen-tuer/

23-25 May 2023 in Siegburg, near Cologne, Germany, and online

Meet PERFECOAT at this year’s Renewable Materials Conference in Siegburg near Cologne, Germany. We will bring plenty of samples for example of one of our binders called Exilva, created by our partner Borregaard. The Binder is available in different textures and can modified according to your property requirements.

Find our more about the conference and where you can find us at https://renewable-materials.eu

17-19 April 2023 in Essen, Germany

The PERFECOAT team gathered for a 3-days meeting in Essen, Germany.

The consortium enjoyed a very fruitful and intense project and general assembly meeting. We discussed the most promising paths towards our bio-based paint and coating ingredients. Especially the development of binders shows various promising paths like alginate and POSS. Other ingredients have turned out to be more challenging.

Still, the project is already able to celebrate success stories like the innovative fungal red pigments developed by Chromologics.

Besides a workshop on binder design at the Remmers facility, the partners also had the opportunity to see how their ingredients perform in formulations and how the final paint and coating applications are tested.

Thanks to our project partners Evonik and Remmers for hosting the meeting and sharing the lab experience!

Chromologics red fungal pigment

Last week the NORCE Norwegian Research Centre and PERFECOAT coordinator SINTEF both participated in the International Conference on Marine Biotechnology (Bioprospecting 2023), at the UiT – The Arctic University of Norway, which took place from 14-16 March 2023.

🌿There, NORCE representatives met Alexander Wentzel, Coordinator of the #PERFECOATProject. Both our projects focus on the development of sustainable coating and paint formulations and are former @BBI-JU now better known as Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) sibling projects. We are exited to launch some joint collaboration soon. Stay updated for more news.

…at the following events this fall:

SLF Congress

21–22 September 2022, Drammen, Norway

Dr Francesca Di Bartolomeo, PERFECOAT project coordinator, working at SINTEF Industry, will hold a presentation on PERFECOAT at the 23^th SLF (Scandinavian Coating Technicians Association) Congress:

https://www.slfpaint.org/

Key Technologies in the Bioeconomy

27–29 September 2022, Straubing, Germany

Dr Amélie Skopp, TUM, will present a PERFECOAT poster at the Global Bioeconomy Alliance Conference in September:

https://www.bioeconomy.world/ktb2022/

Industria Biotec

7 October 2022, Berlin, Germany

Dušica Banduka and Freya Sautner from the nova-Institute will present PERFECOAT at their booth at the Industria Biotech Congress in Berlin:

https://industria-biotec.com

EC Conference Bio-based & Water-based Coatings

22–23 November 2022, Berlin, Germany

Enjoy the talk of the PERFECOAT project coordinator Dr Alexander Wentzel (SINFEF Industry) at the EC Conference on Bio-based and Water-based Coatings in November.

https://www.european-coatings.com/events/2022/ec-conference-bio-based_water-based-2022

We hope to meet you there!

The PERFECOAT project started a social media campaign on LinkedIn and Twitter that will inform you weekly about the project’s goals and progress. Stay tuned for more informative postings which can be found on the nova-Institute’s LinkedIn and Twitter channels. Find the first posting from 8 September under the following links.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6973527272293076992

Twitter: https://twitter.com/novaInstitut/status/1567763171108069376

We are happy to announce the first PERFECOAT related publication “Development of a dedicated Golden Gate Assembly Platform (RtGGA) for Rhodotorula toruloides”

Abstract
Rhodotorula toruloides is a potential chassis for microbial cell factories as this yeast can metabolise different substrates into a diverse range of natural products, but the lack of efficient synthetic biology tools hinders its applicability. In this study, the modular, versatile and efficient Golden Gate DNA assembly system (RtGGA) was adapted to the first basidiomycete, an oleaginous yeast R. toruloides. R. toruloides CCT 0783 was sequenced, and used for the GGA design. The DNA fragments were assembled with predesigned 4-nt overhangs and a library of standardized parts was created containing promoters, genes, terminators, insertional regions, and resistance genes. The library was combined to create cassettes for the characterization of promoters strength and to overexpress the carotenoid production pathway. A variety of reagents, plasmids, and strategies were used and the RtGGA proved to be robust. The RtGGA was used to build three versions of the carotenoid overexpression cassette by using different promoter combinations. The cassettes were transformed into R. toruloides and the three new strains were characterized. Total carotenoid concentration increased by 41%. The dedicated GGA platform fills a gap in the advanced genome engineering toolkit for R. toruloides, enabling the efficient design of complex metabolic pathways.
Read the full publication here.

The very first CBE JU Info Day and networking event will feature speakers from the CBE JU Programme Office, BIC and the European Commission who will present the new partnership, its Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda, as well as the call topics and how to apply for the call.

The info day will be streamed online, and participants will have the opportunity to ask questions before and throughout the event during the dedicated Q&A sessions. A recording of the info day will be available after the event on this page and CBE JU’s YouTube channel.

The second part of the info day will be dedicated to networking. Registered participants can arrange meetings on the CBE JU networking platform from 7 June in the afternoon up until the call closure.

Join the CBE JU networking platform to pitch your project idea, look for partners and offer your services, and, more importantly, get in touch with other CBE JU community members!

For more information click here.

New BBI JU and EU Horizon 2020 Project PERFECOAT – High Performance Bio-based Functional Coatings for Wood and Decorative Applications

Project aims to develop and validate wood and decorative coatings with more than 25 % bio-based components

Achieving a climate-neutral Europe by 2050 requires the replacement of fossil-based material with bio-based material on a broad basis. Today, almost 1 million tonnes of paints and coatings are produced in Europe each year, with more than 80 % still being from fossil resources. Even those coatings that do rely on bio-based compounds often have CO₂ footprints little different from the existing coatings. Reducing the impact of these coatings would represent a major advance in Europe’s climate ambitions. To address this challenge the PERFECOAT project will develop and validate a new generation of industrial wood and decorative coatings with significantly more than 25 % bio-based components that meet and even surpass the current quality and sustainability standards. 

Three major coating markets will be addressed: high-volume ultraviolet (UV)-curable clearcoats, do-it-yourself (DIY) waterborne trim paints, and DIY waterborne wall paints. 

The overarching objective of the PERFECOAT project is to develop novel sustainable coatings that will ultimately be available to the public, through their application on high-volume production home and office furniture and as DIY paints. Within this, the project will pursue the following specific objectives: 

• From an environmental perspective, the PERFECOAT project will contribute to reducing Europe’s greenhouse gas emissions by developing a new generation of industrial bio-based coatings for wood with more than 25 % of bio-based components produced from climate neutral sources and processes. This will be in addition to its contribution to replacing fossil-based material with bio-based, renewable material. 

• From an economic perspective, the project will help prepare the market for new coating formulations that will be at least equal to existing fossil-based products. 

• From a social perspective, the project will demonstrate the potential for creating new job opportunities in the bio-based sector in rural and coastal areas, where urban migration remains a challenge. In addition, the project will enhance European leadership in the biotechnology sector and strengthen the EU’s leadership in adopting renewables.

PERFECOAT is aimed at having relevant impacts at different levels. The project aims at creating a new cross-sectoral connection in the bioeconomy, linking the industrial biotechnology sector and the wood and decorative coatings sector. It pursues to establish a new value chain platform, integrating several value chains that deliver more-sustainable ingredients for bio-based coatings. This will bring together several economic sectors and bio-based economy actors – the biomass refinery sector, the chemical industry sector, the coating industry sector, the research and consultancy sector, and innovative biotechnology and nanotechnology companies. 

Demonstrating new consumer products based on bio-based chemicals is another target. These will be in the form of binder and additive materials as well as innovative bio-based coatings – at pilot scale – for three different applications in large consumer markets. Furthermore, validating new and improved processing technology reflecting a ‘technology readiness level’ gain in a range of products, from level 2 to level 4 at the start of the project, to level 4 to level 5 at its end.

When successful, the PERFECOAT project will be able to offer bio-based coating ingredients from climate neutral sources and processes. This will help encourage the uptake of sustainable coatings, with a positive impact for the environment and helping mitigate climate change.

PERFECOAT is implemented by a multidisciplinary consortium of experts from four universities and research institutes and eight commercial project partners, including four SMEs, in seven member countries. 

nova-Institute, 2021-08-31

www.bbi.europa.eu/projects/perfecoat

www.nova-institute.eu/press/?id=286