BIO-SUSHY

The BIO-SUSHY project funded under HORIZON-CL4-2022 RESILIENCE 01-23 aims to develop innovative coating solutions that meet the EU’s chemical strategy for sustainability by creating safe and durable water and oil-repellent coatings to replace PFAS in different applications. This is achieved through a comprehensive framework for Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD). This involves the use of new scientifically based approaches to identify and manage potential hazards and risks, as well as innovative technologies to support the development of safer and more sustainable products and processes.

The BIO-SUSHY concept is based on three pillars:

• F&R&I coating development (Pilar 1)
• Computational modelling for performance (Pilar 2)
• Toxicity assessment and SSbD methodology (Pilar 3)

This will ensure safety and environmental performance, with a decrease of 25% in environmental impact. The project will follow and implement best practice methodology set through EU programmes to ensure excellence of the research and optimised outputs through a data harmonisation and management program.

The goal is to create three new coatings using two technologies (Pilar 1 related to R&D coating development)

1. Thermoplastic powder coatings – The methodology for developing the thermoplastic powder formulations will involve screening and combining ingredients in powder form to create different coatings using a melt-mixing process. The final product will be applied to food tray applications using electrostatic powder spraying. It will have a high biobased content for easier end-of-life management with a focus on compostability and recycling for end-of-life management.
2. Hybrid coatings from sol-gel technology – The hybrid coatings from sol-gel technology will be developed by evaluating functionalized organic moieties and biobased particles to improve adhesion on fibres and by demonstrating the efficacy of the new formulations at pilot scale with a focus on textile recycling. Also, the hybrid coating will be created by mixing sol-gel precursors, anti-soil additives, and particles with a solvent composed of alcohol and water. It will use biobased linkers to enhance water repellence and improve oil repellence through controlled curing and self-structuration.

R&D Coating development is further supported by Computational modelling (Pilar 2) physics-based and data-driven modelling tools to predict both the repellent properties of coating surfaces and the leaching mechanisms of composites. Along with experimental measurements, the modelling activity will serve as a larger computational tool, including all data collection and curation in a harmonized and annotated infrastructure for training and provision towards existing data repositories and marketplaces. Further SSbD methodology (Pilar 3) is being implemented – a framework for assessing product safety and sustainability during the design phase of product development thus ensuring safe and sustainable novel coatings for textile, food packaging and cosmetics.