Laboratório Associado CICECO – Instituto de Materiais de Aveiro

materiais (IWMat). O

This document corresponds to a policy brief providing EU funding bodies and programme designers with a strategic framework to enhance the impact, evaluation, and sustainability of capacity-building activities in Horizon Europe Twinning projects. It was co-created by coordinators of Twinning sister projects, based on evidence collected from 16 sister projects, identifying systemic barriers that may limit the effectiveness of current investments and translating these into actionable policy recommendations. The suggested approach considers improved programme design, reporting alignment, and institutional capacity development. It is directly applicable to the European Research Executive Agency and policy units within the European Commission focusing in WIDERA.

In this work, the foundation of a biobased ionic liquid utilization of squid waste has been scrutinized. An ionic liquid screening showed that the biocompatible ionic liquid choline acetate, [Ch][OAc], can extract more than 80 wt% of the protein and precipitate it upon solvent swing between ethanol and water. Process parameter optimization was carried out with factorial design of experiments to yield 75% of recovered protein with an estimated 90% purity and a highly acetylated, crystalline β-chitin with up to 95% purity. Physico-chemical analyses of these two streams confirmed the efficiency of ionic liquid separation and the amino acid profiling of the protein isolate revealed the presence of three major essential amino acids, histidine, leucine and valine that could be a valuable alternative protein source for feed in aquaculture. Molecular dynamic simulations show that the affinity of [OAc]- to protein surfaces is greater than that of alternative anions, facilitating protein solubilization. However, its combination with [Ch]+ is optimal because the interactions of this cation with the protein surface are relatively weak, allowing the protein to be recovered from the IL. A material mass balance of the process has shown the solvent usage is high, which ultimately impacts on high energetic requirements. Techno-economic confirmed that solvent usage makes up to nearly 65% of the minimum selling price of the protein, which reaches up to 9 $/kg, but decreases with co-production of β-chitin down to 0.6 $·kg-1 for each 1 $·kg-1 of chitin. Solvent usage also impacts negatively on CO2 emissions with up to 4.27 kg CO2·kg-1 of product. These emissions are split into 61% for the protein and 39% for the β-chitin production.

This work presents sodium poly(heptazine imide) (NaPHI)-based materials, synthesized in a NaCl medium, as highly effective platforms for CO₂ capture. High crystallinity— an often-overlooked aspect in PHI frameworks—is identified as a key factor governing CO₂ adsorption capacity in microporous structures. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and manometric studies revealed a CO₂ uptake of ~3.8 mmol/g, at 1 bar and 25 °C, surpassing most reported PHI-based adsorbents under similar conditions. Exchanging Na+ with K+ or Rb+ preserved CO2 adsorption performance, whereas Cs+ incorporation induced structural distortion, greatly reducing CO2 adsorption capacity in PHI. These materials exhibited excellent cyclic stability (20 cycles) without degradation and CO2 adsorption capacity loss. Notably, at flue gas-relevant temperature (100 °C), NaPHI attained a CO₂ capacity of 2.1 mmol/g, doubling the performance of benchmark Zeolite 13X (1.1 mmol/g). Ideal Adsorbed Solution Theory (IAST) confirmed remarkable CO₂/N₂ selectivity (~3.8 mmol/g vs. typical N₂ adsorption of 0.32 mmol/g), a critical property for post-combustion CO2 capture. These findings position PHI-based materials as a disruptive platform for CO₂ adsorption, offering (i) straightforward synthesis from readily available precursors, (ii) promising scalability, and (iii) outstanding performance.

This work presents sodium poly(heptazine imide) (NaPHI)-based materials, synthesized in a NaCl medium, as highly effective platforms for CO₂ capture. High crystallinity— an often-overlooked aspect in PHI frameworks—is identified as a key factor governing CO₂ adsorption capacity in microporous structures. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and manometric studies revealed a CO₂ uptake of ~3.8 mmol/g, at 1 bar and 25 °C, surpassing most reported PHI-based adsorbents under similar conditions. Exchanging Na+ with K+ or Rb+ preserved CO2 adsorption performance, whereas Cs+ incorporation induced structural distortion, greatly reducing CO2 adsorption capacity in PHI. These materials exhibited excellent cyclic stability (20 cycles) without degradation and CO2 adsorption capacity loss. Notably, at flue gas-relevant temperature (100 °C), NaPHI attained a CO₂ capacity of 2.1 mmol/g, doubling the performance of benchmark Zeolite 13X (1.1 mmol/g). Ideal Adsorbed Solution Theory (IAST) confirmed remarkable CO₂/N₂ selectivity (~3.8 mmol/g vs. typical N₂ adsorption of 0.3 mmol/g), a critical property for post-combustion CO2 capture. These findings position PHI-based materials as a disruptive platform for CO₂ adsorption, offering (i) straightforward synthesis from readily available precursors, (ii) promising scalability, and (iii) outstanding performance.

This policy brief, developed within the scope of the EPIBOOST project, examines key challenges in communication, dissemination, and exploitation practices in Horizon Europe Twinning actions. Drawing on evidence collected from 16 sister Twinning projects, it identifies gaps in reporting frameworks, audience categorization, KPI monitoring, and exploitation pathways for non-commercial outputs. The brief provides targeted recommendations for EU funding agencies and the Research Executive Agency (REA) to improve guidance, reporting efficiency, and impact assessment. Its recommendations aim to strengthen Widening excellence, talent retention, institutional capacity-building, and Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) outreach across the European Research Area.

This document corresponds to a policy brief providing EU funding bodies and programme designers with a strategic framework to enhance the impact, evaluation, and sustainability of capacity-building activities in Horizon Europe Twinning projects. It was co-created by coordinators of Twinning sister projects, based on evidence collected from 16 sister projects, identifying systemic barriers that may limit the effectiveness of current investments and translating these into actionable policy recommendations. The suggested approach considers improved programme design, reporting alignment, and institutional capacity development. It is directly applicable to the European Research Executive Agency and policy units within the European Commission focusing in WIDERA.

This policy brief, developed within the scope of the EPIBOOST project, examines key challenges in communication, dissemination, and exploitation practices in Horizon Europe Twinning actions. Drawing on evidence collected from 16 sister Twinning projects, it identifies gaps in reporting frameworks, audience categorization, KPI monitoring, and exploitation pathways for non-commercial outputs. The brief provides targeted recommendations for EU funding agencies and the Research Executive Agency (REA) to improve guidance, reporting efficiency, and impact assessment. Its recommendations aim to strengthen Widening excellence, talent retention, institutional capacity-building, and Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) outreach across the European Research Area.

materiais (IWMat). O