Innovations in food packaging mostly concern food shelf-life and consumer safety by the inhibition or prevention of microbial growth onto food, thanks to the development of antimicrobial active packaging. In particular, bio-based biodegradable polymers and antimicrobial natural compounds generate a growing interest in the sustainability of packaged food. The aim of NanoBAP project is to investigate the potential of electrospun nanofibers in the field of active packaging, through the development of an antimicrobial and antioxidant coating based on biosourced materials for the combined release of multiple natural active compounds from a PLA film. Two strategies based on electrospinning will be fully investigated: from the design and characterisation of physico-chemical properties of the coated films and the release/transfer mechanisms of active compounds up to the evaluation of in vitro and model/simplified food antimicrobial activity. The final innovative proposed packaging solution would be of key importance for the packing of sliced or textured fresh foods. In conclusion, the outcome of this project will generate fully bio-based and biodegradable active films with the potential to substantially mitigate plastic pollution and to reduce food waste. This will make a both scientific and economical step forward to “zero waste” concept.

Fouling deposit formation on heat exchangers surface arising from thermal treatments of milk and egg products is a major and severe industrial issue of food processing plants. It involves drastic and expensive cleaning measures, resulting in excessive rinsing water and harsh chemical use and accounting for 80% of the whole production costs. Modifications of heat exchanger stainless steel surface properties may in theory limit the onset of fouling, but at the state of the art no satisfying solution has been reported. The high risk/high gain challenge of ECONOMICS project is to design novel non-wetting surfaces, showing food compatibility, antifouling properties and resistance to cleaning procedures. On one hand, surface functionalization processes of high potential, i.e., atmospheric plasma, sol-gel and self-stratifying coatings will be applied on stainless steel and assessed. On the other hand, stainless steel will be replaced by carbon-based materials (carbon-graphite solid composite plates with engineered surfaces, mesoporous carbons, bi-continuous composites), which constitute a “disruptive” thermal technology that can lead to significant energy savings. Some of the materials designed, of controlled porosity, will also be tuned to become Slippery Liquid Infused Porous Surfaces (SLIPS), which are extremely promising for antifouling applications. All surfaces will be evaluated in milk and egg derivatives processes to evaluate fouling in pasteurization conditions. They will then be submitted to durability evaluation through cleaning-in-place procedures. The antifouling mechanism of action of the effective surfaces will be investigated at various scales (from nano to microscales) and their environmental impact and potential gain will be estimated by multiple criteria analyses (life cycle analysis).The proposed project will bring further understanding of a major bottleneck limiting the dissemination of more eco-efficient cleaning surfaces in dairy industry.

Our knowledge of the solid Earth is built upon concerted research in diverse fields such as petrology, geochemistry, geophysics, geodynamics, and mineral physics. For instance, phase transformations in minerals induce physical boundaries in the Earth's interior. The analysis of seismic signals arising from these regions brings key information for our knowledge of the structure, composition, and dynamics of the planet. Due to the extreme conditions of pressure and temperature in the Earth's interior, minerals undergo drastic trasformations and their properties must be investigated in laboratories under realistic conditions. In parallel, seismology is one of the few means of direct observation of deep Earth structures as seismic waveforms are constrained by the present-day state of matter along their propagation path. The transition into the lower mantle at 660 km depth, for instance, has been characterized through seismology. Mineral physics demonstrated that it is mostly due to the decomposition of a mineral, ringwoodite, into an assemblage of ferropericlase and bridgmanite. Can we move our Earth model beyond simple comparison between seismic discontinuities and mineral reaction depths? Can we use seismic signals from boundary layers to characterize processes deep inside the Earth? How will this change our current view of the Earth? These are the questions the TIMEleSS project aims to answer. Phase transformations induce changes in the material's structure, density, elastic properties, but also microstructure, i.e. the arrangement of mineral phases, grain sizes, grain orientations, and strains. Boundaries with discontinuous physical properties in the Earth also induce signatures in the seismic signals that can be analyzed accurately. Part of the signals measured in seismology and their connection to deep Earth processes, however, are not fully understood. This is especially true for the regions lying between 600 and 1700 km depth, with a complex structure of reflections at 660 km, small scale-structures at mid-mantle depth, and an elusive supplementary discontinuity at ~1000 km. By the end of this project, we intend to constrain and model the effect of phase transformations and microstructures on such observations and use this new knowledge to interpret physical processes in this depth range. TIMEleSS intends to address the effects of microstructures on seismic signals from boundary layers in the 600-1700 km depth range. This global goal requires high pressure/temperature experimental studies and state-of-the art in-situ methods for understanding microstructures induced by phase transformations in relevant mineral compositions and the study of the seismic signals they may produce. In parallel, we will conduct seismological studies to analyze new combinations of waves, that, when used together, offer stronger possibilities to decipher physical parameters of structures in the mantle. Combining these two fields allows to better understand connections between phase transformation, microstructures and their associated seismic signals. TIMEleSS' goal is to develop new approaches and to address questions which cannot be explained by a simple analysis of the sequence of thermodynamic phase transitions as they involve microstructural and dynamic processes deep inside the Earth. Such a project is only possible through a combination of expertise in several fields as found in Lille, Münster and Potsdam. The team of PIs includes experts in in-situ experiments, mineralogy of the deep mantle, and analysis and modelling of seismic waves from the deep Earth. We will train a new generation of multidisciplinary PhD students based in France and Germany who will interact strongly through the course of the project. The combined expertise and novel approaches in TIMEleSS are keys to obtain the important scientific results we expect within this proposal.

At first sight there is limited room for steel recycling improvement as the recycling rate is already quite high (90%). However, this rate does not account for downcycling aspects. Indeed, recycling a material does not mean that its application is as prestigious as originally. New alloys are thus processed to fulfill the need for structural and functional materials, generating a large part of the CO2 emission over the world. The fact that materials are not simply reused is partly related to sorting issues. The industrial technology lacks maturity to completely differentiate the huge diversity of grades ending up to scrap dealers. Consequently, steel scrap becomes a mix of grades that does not have the composition the research and material development have focused on so far. In turn, the scrap is either mixed with primary chemical elements from ores to return to a well-known composition, or transformed into material parts for which the specifications are less strict. From a sustainability perspective, it is needed to take care of this scrap. The RESSET project aims at avoiding steel scrap downcycling by exploring new thermomechanical routes leading to improved mechanical properties in presence of contaminants, like Cu, and using materials design concepts. The RESSET framework specifically intends for precipitation sequences able to strengthen the material. To fulfill this objective, modelling tools describing phase transformation kinetics depending on processing conditions and for the constrained scrap composition will be developed. Thermodynamics and kinetics-based derivations will provide criteria for precipitation initiation, equations for precipitate growth and coarsening, and will be coupled with other phase transformations of interest in steels, namely the martensitic transformation or the austenite reversion. To make the framework fully generic, governing equations will be coupled with thermodynamic and kinetic databases. The best processing conditions leading to selective precipitation of contaminants and material strengthening will be found with an optimization algorithm. Experimentally obtained microstructure of a model alloy subjected to a thermomechanical treatment and which composition will be fixed by a typical scrap composition will be investigated to get insights into the microstructure evolution during the processing to help the fundamental model development. These microstructures will finally be compared to the modelling tool predictions in order to validate it and to use it to help steel recycling by providing new solutions.

Nisin is produced by lactic acid bacteria belonging to Lactococcus and Streptococcus genera. This bacteriocin is FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved natural biopreservative under reference E234. Nisin also has potential for therapeutic use to treat a range of infectious diseases. Nisin commercially available is mainly produced by liquid fermentation. The production of high-quality commercial nisin is hampered by the lack of a cost effective production process. Laboratory-scale purification of nisin typically consists of a succession of ammonium sulfate precipitation, solvent-based precipitation, and chromatographic-based techniques such as ion-exchange, hydrophobic interaction, gel filtration, and reversed-phase high pressure liquid chromatography. Despite excellent results in term of purity, these procedures are not suitable for an industrial scale. Usually, low yields are obtained, due to the involvement of a number of steps in the protocols, resulting in tedious and time-consuming processes. In this context, NISINNOV project aims to develop an efficient purification strategy scalable on a large scale to obtain nisin with different degrees of purity with a minimal number of steps as possible. In this proposal, we propose to: (i) optimize nisin fermentation conditions ; (ii) implement an innovative on-line recovery process, (iii) design a first stage purification step by applying membrane-based methodologies, (iv) achieve the purest nisin as possible by Ion-Exchange Chromatography with a satisfactory yield for the global process while coupling unit operations, and (v) provide an efficient overall purification design adaptable to large scale. This project involves a microbiologist, plasma, membrane, and chromatographic processes specialists. The innovative nature of the project is related to its multidisciplinary and sustainable approach. It also addresses key bioseparation issues that severely limit the commercial development of this class of molecules.