Strengthening the Connection between Science, Society and Environment to Develop Future French and European Bioeconomies: Cutting-Edge Research of VAALBIO Team at UCCS

Abstract

The development of the future French and European bioeconomies will involve developing new green chemical processes in which catalytic transformations are key. The VAALBIO team (valorization of alkanes and biomass) of the UCCS laboratory (Unité de Catalyse et Chimie du Solide) are working on various catalytic processes, either developing new catalysts and/or designing the whole catalytic processes. Our research is focused on both the fundamental and applied aspects of the processes. Through this review paper, we demonstrate the main topics developed by our team focusing mostly on oxygen- and hydrogen-related processes as well as on green hydrogen production and hybrid catalysis. The social impacts of the bioeconomy are also discussed applying the concept of the institutional compass.

Impact of Acidity and Metal Particle Size on the Competitive Pathways of Benzyl Phenyl Ether Conversion to Aromatics and Cycloalkanes in a Nonpolar Solvent

“…Lignocellulosic biomass is an abundant, nonedible, and renewable resource for the production of high value-added chemicals and fuels in future biorefineries. − Lignocellulosic biomass is composed mainly of cellulose (40–50%), hemicellulose (25–35%), and lignin (15–20%). , Cellulose and hemicellulose are widely used for the production of bioethanol and other chemical products, whereas lignin has limited application due to its complex structure, which makes its depolymerization difficult . Currently, approximately 2% of industrial lignin is commercially used, while the rest is burnt for heat generation through combustion .…”

The Role of Metal and Acid Sites in the Liquid‐phase Hydrodeoxygenation of Lignin‐derived Phenolic Dimers

“…[6][7][8] In contrast to cellulose and hemicellulose, which are widely used for the production of bioethanol and other chemicals, lignin has limited application due to its complex structure. [6,9] According to the International Lignin Institute (ILI), [10] more than 40 million tons of lignin are annually produced. Approximately 2 % of industrial lignin is commercially used while the rest is burnt for heat generation through combustion.…”

“…It is composed mainly of three natural polymers: cellulose (40–50 %), hemicellulose (25–35 %), and lignin (15–20 %) [6–8] . In contrast to cellulose and hemicellulose, which are widely used for the production of bioethanol and other chemicals, lignin has limited application due to its complex structure [6,9] . According to the International Lignin Institute (ILI), [10] more than 40 million tons of lignin are annually produced.…”

Supported Gold Catalysts for Base-Free Furfural Oxidation: The State of the Art and Machine-Learning-Enabled Optimization

“…Moreover, its production consumes CO 2 , which makes it more environmentally friendly compared to fossil resources [5]. Lignocellulose primarily consists of cellulose (40-50%), hemicellulose (25-35%), and lignin (15-20%) [7,9,10], making it a promising feedstock for biorefineries [11][12][13][14][15][16].…”