Advanced Materials

BioGAS+ with Biostarter by Metanogenia SL – Case Study – June 2022

23 June 2022 by AEGLE TECHNOLOGY

About Us

Aegle Technology (https://aegle-technology.es) is an advanced materials innovation, commercialization, and production company.

We research and develop new solutions, bring our own, and third-party, patents to market, and have the know-how and facilities to manufacture products of the highest quality.

We are based in Barcelona, Spain, and work closely with both scientific experts and industry leaders to further technology innovation.

Introduction

BioGAS+ is the first ready-to-use additive for anaerobic digestion (AD) based on advanced materials, offered by Aegle Technology. It has obtained the highest ever-reported improvement of biogas production +285% and other significant benefits (following DIN-38414 standard)^[1], with cellulose as feedstock.

Biostarter is an innovation developed by Metanogenia S.L. (Badajoz, Spain) based on high-efficiency anaerobic cell cultures adapted to the treatment of specific agricultural and food industry waste and by-products. In this case study, microbiota for slaughterhouse and oil mill by-products was selected.

Using knowledge extracted from preliminary studies, a round of BMP assays was carried out at optimized Hydraulic Retention Times (HRT) and BioGAS+ dosing (0.01% of Fe₃O₄NPs vs total volatile solids, w/w) in digesters with slaughterhouse by-products as feedstock. Additionally, an extra assay with goat’s dairy farm by-products (goat’s cheese whey + manure) was carried out in parallel.

Three combinations of substrate, HRT and BioGAS+ dosing were studied:

Slaughterhouse Waste:

0.01% BioGAS+ dosing and 31 days HRT
0.01% BioGAS+ dosing and 27 days HRT

Goat’s cheese whey + manure:

0.1% BioGAS+ dosing and 20 days HRT

Addition of BioGAS+ yielded increases to biogas production, biomethane production, biomethane richness and energy yields for all three assays. Of special relevance are the absolute and relative increases of energy yields obtained when BioGAS+ is added.

*Figure 1. Relative increases in biogas production and energy yield when applying BioGAS+ compared to baseline production*

These are remarkable results considering that BioGAS+ was added to reactors already highly optimized with the use of Biostarter adapted to each substrate and only marginal (if any) increases were expected. Higher production increases are to be expected if added to reactors which are not already optimized.

RESULTS

Slaughterhouse Waste:

0.01% BioGAS+ dosing and 31 days HRT:

A +36% in biogas and a +40% in biomethane production per m³ of substrate vs baseline. A 59% decrease on Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) of the digestate.

0.01% BioGAS+ dosing and 27 days HRT:

A +5% in biogas and a +9% in biomethane production per m³ of substrate vs baseline. A 62% decrease on COD of the digestate.

Table 1 summarizes the effect of adding of Biogas+ to a reactor that already works with Biostarter. In other words, what BioGAS+ contributes to Biostarter.

*Table 1. Quantification of the effects of applying Biogas+ to Biostarter for slaughterhouse by-products*

Goat’s cheese whey + manure:

0.1% BioGAS+ dosing and 20 days HRT:

A +10% increase in biogas and a +16% in biomethane production per m3 of substrate vs baseline. A 51% decrease on COD of the digestate (in this case, a decrease of a 29% also in comparison with the “Biostarter alone” baseline).

Higher energy yields are obtained with added BioGAS+, showing an increase from 32.2 to 37.3 Nm3 methane/m3substrate. A similar effect is observed on the methane richness of the produced biogas, increasing from 67% to almost a 71%.

In this case, the addition of BioGAS+ (0.1% dose) also yielded to a noteworthy decrease of COD of a 29% when compared with the baseline without BioGAS+.

Table 2 summarizes the comparison of using and not using BioGAS+ in reactor that already works with Biostarter on the digestion of this substrate.

*Table 2. Quantification of the effects of applying Biogas+ to Biostarter for goat’s cheese farm by-products*

Conclusions

It is important to state that in all cases BioGAS+ was added to high stability reactors already working with the given feedstock and highly adapted microbiota with operational logs of over 1 year data was used as baseline.

Absolute values of energy yields obtained when BioGAS+ is added for the slaughterhouse by-products, values of 41.2 and 37.5 Nm³ methane/m3substrate for 31 and 27 days HRT respectively are obtained, compared with 29.4 and 34.5 Nm3 methane/m³ substrate when not using BioGAS+. For the goat’s cheese by-products, the mean increase is from 32.2 to 37.3 Nm³ methane/m³ substrate.

In terms of activity of the resulting digestate, decreases of COD were notable for all three assays with added BioGAS+. In the case of the digestion of goat’s cheese farm by-products, the addition of BioGAS+ (0.1% dose) also yielded to a noteworthy decrease of COD of a 29% when compared with the baseline without BioGAS+. COD values of the digestate are related to non-converted organic matter. This added to a biomethane increase of almost a 16%, makes us reassert our previous findings that BioGAS+ presents greater advantages when applied to more recalcitrant substrates.

For more information:

Please contact us for additional information and to begin your own trial of BioGAS+.

Aegle Technology SL

Rambla de Catalunya, 25, 1º

08007 Barcelona, Spain

+41 78 600 8995

sales@aegle-technology.es

Nanoceria as a treatment for “oxidative stress”.

19 May 2022 by AEGLE TECHNOLOGY

Free radicals?

We hear a great deal in the news about so called “free radicals”and the damage they can do to our bodies.

A free radical is a molecule that is highly unstable and reacts easily with other molecules (technically, this is because these molecules have an unpaired electron). Free radicals are produced by a variety of normal biological processes and can also be a result of external exposures such as radiation, pollutants, and cigarette smoke.

Reactive oxygen species

Reactive oxygen species, or ROS, are a subset of free radicals that contain oxygen. Examples of ROS include peroxides including hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). Cells with high metabolic rates produce greater amounts of ROS.

In a biological context, ROS are by-products of the normal metabolism of oxygen, and are intrinsic to cellular functioning and are present at low levels in normal cells, where they have roles in cell signalling and homeostasis. However, ROS can cause irreversible damage to DNA as they oxidize and modify some cellular components and prevent them from performing their original functions.

Antioxidants

Antioxidants are substances that can prevent or slow damage to cells caused by free radicals. They are sometimes called “free-radical scavengers.”

Antioxidants counteract free radicals and they work in two different ways. Enzymatic antioxidants work by breaking down or converting harmful ROS into water. Non-enzymatic antioxidants such as Vitamin E and Vitamin C work by reacting with the radicals directly to neutralise the free radical.

What is oxidative stress?

Oxidative stress occurs anytime there exists an imbalance between antioxidants and free radicals, resulting in an abundance of unchecked reactive free radical species.

Oxidative stress results in damage to DNA, proteins, and lipids and can have dramatic effects.

ROS are involved in the pathogenesis of multiple inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, cardiac and vascular dysfunction, and cancers.

Cerium oxide (nanoceria) as an antioxidant

In a recent paper published in Frontiers in Immunology, authors Lena M Ernst and Victor F Puntes outline how cerium oxide (CeO₂) nanoparticles (nanoceria) not only protect from oxidative stress consequence of inflammation but also modulate the immune response towards inflammation resolution.

Importantly, this paper also outlines details on the safety of nanoceria as a medical treatment, as well as the conditions under which it can be produced safely to provide the desired theraputic effects and is easily and naturally excreted from the body.

The authors explain that cerium is affordable, as abundant as silver, and that nanoceria is easy to produce following green chemistry principles with simple reagents having recyclable basic waters as by-product. It is stable in simple storage conditions, and of universal use.

Nanoceria as a treatment for oxidative stress

Dysregulation of the immune system is associated with an overproduction of metabolic reactive oxygen species (ROS) and consequent oxidative stress. By buffering excess ROS, cerium oxide (CeO₂) nanoparticles (nanoceria) not only protect from oxidative stress consequence of inflammation but also modulate the immune response towards inflammation resolution.

In recent years, Nanoceria has received much attention, because of its widespread biomedical applications, including antibacterial, antioxidant and anticancer activity, drug/gene delivery systems, anti-diabetic property, and tissue engineering.

Properly formulated, nanoceria is highly soluble, safe, and potentially biodegradable, and it may overcome current antioxidant substances limitations and thus open a new era for human health management.

We expect to hear a lot more about Nanoceria and its potential as a treatment for a variety of ailments in the near future.

Aegle Technology joins the European Biogas Association (EBA)

18 May 2022 by AEGLE TECHNOLOGY

Aegle Technology SL is pleased to announce that it has recently become a member of the European Biogas Association (EBA).

Founded in February 2009, the association is committed to the deployment of sustainable biogas and biomethane production and use throughout the continent. EBA counts today on a well established network of nearly 200 national organisations covering the whole biogas and biomethane value chain across Europe and beyond.

The European Commission has recently doubled its objective for home-grown biomethane production to 35 billion cubic metres per year by 2030 as part of efforts to bolster the EU bloc against a looming energy crisis, according to a recent communication (source).

Aegle Technology has been founded with the goal to be a strong active partner in a novel European strategy for a sustainable society through the next generation of advanced materials.

Our approach is to combine academic research and knowledge with experience in all aspects of product research, development and commercialisation. Our team includes world-class expertise in the design and manufacture of advanced materials, experience in large scale IT system development and implementation, implementation of regulatory frameworks, business development and supply chain management.

Increasing EU BioGas production – creating energy independence with affordable, renewable solutions

27 April 2022 by AEGLE TECHNOLOGY

Energy independence

In light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the ‘REPowerEU’ plan, released on Tuesday (8 March), focuses on ways to make Europe independent from Russian fossil fuels before 2030, starting with gas.

The European Commission has doubled its objective for home-grown biomethane production to 35 billion cubic metres per year by 2030 as part of efforts to bolster the bloc against a looming energy crisis, according to a new communication (source).

To increase the resilience of the EU’s energy system, the Commission proposes a two-pronged attack, of which it lists higher levels of biomethane, or biogas, as part of one of the key pillars.

The ambition to produce 35 billion cubic metres (bcm) of biomethane per year by 2030 is double that of a previous objective set out by the EU executive in its Fit for 55 communication, which set the figure at 17 bcm. This would see production increase tenfold across the bloc by 2030.

According to the strategy, member states’ Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) strategic plans (see below for more detail) should be instrumentalised to “channel funding to biomethane produced from sustainable biomass sources”.

This includes in particular agricultural wastes and residues, the communication specifies.

“The biomethane target represents over 20% of the current EU gas imports from Russia. By 2050, this potential can triple, growing well over 100 bcm and covering 30-50% of the future EU gas demand,” he said.

He added that some countries are already active in the development of biomethane production in Europe, while many others are starting to unlock this potential.

Reducing Energy costs

Besides biogas, the new communication also plans to increase support possibilities for farmers in the ongoing review of the state aid rules.

Together with its communication, the Commission is launching consultations with member states on a new temporary crisis framework for state aid to allow businesses to mitigate the increase in energy costs related to the Russian invasion.

Biogas production has been earmarked as a key way to help fortify the EU’s struggling farm sector against burgeoning energy costs, according to a draft of the European Commission’s communication on energy prices due to be published next month. (source)

The draft communication paints a grim picture of high and unstable energy prices continuing in the coming years. This will have serious consequences for a range of sectors, not least of which agriculture.

Fertiliser prices have increased by 142% over the last year, the draft document notes, pointing out that energy and fertilisers account for 20% of farmers’ production costs.

And this situation could deteriorate further if higher energy prices continue to push fertiliser prices up, with a risk of lower plantings, lower yields, and thus even greater pressures on farmers’ incomes and food prices, it adds.

This will put the farming sector at a “competitive disadvantage compared to competitors from third countries”.

In a bid to bolster the sector against rising energy prices, the European Commission places an emphasis on the creation and storage of biogas.

Biogas is a renewable fuel produced by the breakdown of organic matter, such as food scraps and animal waste.

“With squeezed incomes for farmers, the use of biogas can provide an opportunity for additional and diversified revenue streams for farmers, in line with the European Green Deal,” the communication reads, stating that biogas is a “clean, renewable, and reliable source of energy” as well as a new source of income for farmers.

The use of stored biogas reduces methane emissions, it can be used as a source of peak power and reduce the dependence on fossil fuels, while also helping the green transition of the agricultural sector.

The EU executive will therefore propose to set an EU-level ambition to produce 35 billion cubic metres of biogas by 2030, according to the communication.

Meanwhile, member states should adopt renewable gas strategies, fully aligned with this target.

EU developed BioGas+ improves biogas production

In response to this escalating crisis, AEGLE TECHNOLOGY plans to scale up production of BioGas+, a European developed, patented and registered advanced-materials-based innovation that obtains the highest ever-reported improvement of biogas production.

BioGas+ triples (200% increase of production) the biogas yield with cellulose as feedstock in laboratory conditions and has already been shown to obtain at least a 30% methane ratio increase in real industrial settings in initial trials.

Start your trial of BioGas+ today

Purchase a 200ml trial pack from our online shop or contact us at sales@aegle-technology.es for more information.

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ADVANCED MATERIALS 2030 MANIFESTO FOR EUROPE

12 April 2022 by AEGLE TECHNOLOGY

“Advanced materials” are materials designed with a purpose to have novel or enhanced properties and improve performance over conventional materials, products and processes.

Many of the challenges facing society today, including sustainability in agriculture, further development of electronics, improved transportation solutions and requirements for renewable energy sources all benefit from contunuing advances in materials technology.

Whilst strong in many fields, Europe is currently seen to be lagging behind in some key industries including industrial biotech and nanotechnology.

The accompanying graph provides a ranking of performance in key technologies in technology generation, start-up creation and skills comparing EU with US, China and Japan7 (source: EC SWD (2021) 352). This graph highlights key industries in which Europe is lagging behind, e.g., Security, Industrial Biotech, Nanotech, Robotics, AI, Micro-and Nanoelectronics, and Big Data.

With Advanced Materials playing a pivotal role in all of these areas, Europe must build on its strength by creating suitable ecosystems that allow it to overcome this weakness. Defending and further building on our strategic position in “Advanced Materials” will be a core asset when combined with our leadership in manufacturing industry capacity and competency (automobile, aeronautics, …).

Advanced Materials 2030 Manifesto

The MATERIALS 2030 MANIFESTO (Systemic Approach of Advanced Materials for Prosperity – A 2030 Perspective) which was published on 7 February 2022 calls for “a systemic approach to develop the next generation solution-oriented advanced materials which will offer faster, scalable and efficient responses to the challenges and thus turn them into opportunities for Europe’s society, economy and environment today and in the future. “

The Manifesto outlines key areas in which Europe must support the evolution of materials research underway, specifically in the following:

Uniting Digital and Material capacities and competences – high performance computing, big data and AI revolutionise the digital modelling, simulation and screening of materials properties, materials development and production processes.
Combining technology push and market pull – discovery-led research should be connected with developments along the value chain and scaling up processes led by start-ups and industry.

The document also outlines four fundamental pillars that generate the basis for the development of advanced materials:

Safeguarding Europe’s technology leadership;
Reducing the environmental footprint by using advanced materials;
Securing strategic autonomy; and,
Targeting advanced materials innovation markets.

Reaching the Vision with Advanced Materials

Advanced materials are key to providing solutions for many applications that address the challenges mentioned above.

The following diagram helps to demonstrate that there is a significant share of similarity in the materials’ challenges across different markets, creating substantial potential for collaboration.

Two significant crosscutting enablers are coming to the fore: new technologies and innovations (green band) and new polices (blue band). In order to unlock the full potential of advanced materials, digital innovations must be applied within materials development, as well as creating a harmonised understanding on how to measure, quantify and benchmark the sustainability performance of new materials.

For more information on the MATERIALS 2030 MANIFESTO please follow the link ( https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/research_and_innovation/research_by_area/documents/advanced-materials-2030-manifesto.pdf).

AEGLE TECHNOLOGY has been founded with this goal in mind. We aim to be a strong active partner in a novel European strategy for a sustainable society through the next generation of advanced materials.

For more information, please got to our website at https://aegle-technology.es or contact us at sales@aegle-technology.es to discuss your requirements.

Aegle Technology – Nanoparticles for Printed Electronics

11 April 2022 by AEGLE TECHNOLOGY

Authors: Martí Busquets-Fité, Christopher W. Young

The field of printed electronics is advancing rapidly, changing the current paradigm of electronic devices and circuit boards from hard structures and rigid sheets to flexible thin layers, which will lead to the emergence of a plethora of new devices and technological possibilities such as disposable electronics, smart labels, and a further step in the ongoing process of miniaturization of devices.

One of the main driving forces to achieve this is the development of nanoparticle-based “functional” inks.

Functional inks are used to create printed and flexible circuits and offer a cost-effective alternative to conventional methods such as etched copper flex circuits and printed circuit boards (PCBs). Functional inks make it possible for manufacturers to print on flexible substrates for mass-scale circuit manufacturing. Functional inks can be applied to a broad range of rigid and flexible surfaces using different printing processes:

screen printing (sheet-fed and roll-fed),
aerosol jet printing,
and gravure printing.

The choice of the printing technique depends on the ink type and ultimate product use. Functional inks are generally more environmentally friendly than traditional methods because etching copper on PCBs requires the use of acid baths, while the process of employing functional inks generates no waste and uses no harmful chemicals.

Inks which conduct electricity have a wide range of uses, including:

capacitive and membrane switches,
RFID tags,
touch screens,
biological and electrochemical sensors,
Positive Temperature Coefficient (PTC) heaters,
electromagnetic interference/radio frequency interference (EMI/RFI) shielding,
wearable electronics (stretchy conductive inks).

The use of specific metal nanoparticles produced to tightly controlled specifications in the production of high-performance functional inks, such as required for printed electronics, helps to achieve the desired properties.

Nanoparticles (NPs) are usually defined as particles of matter that are between 1 and 100 nanometres (nm) in diameter. Because of their extremely small size (they cannot be seen even using an ordinary optical microscope) they exhibit very different physical and chemical properties, including the way they behave in a solution as well as optical effects and electric properties.

A wide variety of metals, including silver (Au), gold (Ag), platinum (Pt) and palladium (Pd), are used in nanoparticle form.

Of all the metal nanoparticles, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) possess the highest electrical and thermal conductivity which, along with other properties and factors (e.g., lower cost, resistance to oxidation, interesting plasmonic and antibacterial properties), has put silver nanoparticle (AgNP) based inks as the most widespread nanoparticles-based ink product with the better-established technology and the highest production and sales volumes.

However, most of the currently available AgNP inks contain a remarkably broad distribution of sizes with specifications describing cut-off sizes rather than detailing mean sizes and size distribution. In practice, this reduces the effectiveness of these inks for many applications.

Nanoparticles-based inks for printed electronics

Printed electronics requires inks with certain levels of viscosity and surface tension to be operable (achievable with the use of organic solvents, dispersing agents and humectants to avoid inks drying too quickly on the nozzles). Such general requirements depend on several factors: printing technique, requirements of the printing equipment and the desired functional properties of the ink as a final product.

Of all the inks requirements, probably the most relevant and restrictive is their viscosity. For instance, aerosol jet printers can only operate with viscosities below 15 cP, piezoelectric printheads require viscosities between 5 and 20 cP and thermal printheads inks must have even lower viscosities (1-5 cP).

Particle size is another restrictive requirement. For aerosol jet printers, particle size must be below 100nm to avoid clogging of the nozzles. That is why well-defined NPs below 100nm are clearly preferred for this technique and all printing techniques requiring an aerosolization step.

Historically, noble metals (specially Au, Ag) and copper have monopolised the field of printed electronics, as are their nano-sized equivalents. Other materials such as nickel, brass, chromium, iron and iron oxides and even intrinsically conductive polymers and carbon-based materials have proved to yield to conductive nanotechnology-based inks and are worth mentioning, although attracting a significant lower deal of attention.

In all the aforementioned cases, the nanoscale counterparts offer remarkable advantages in contrast to the bulk materials due to their scale: stable colloidal suspensions easy to manipulated and use in microfluidics and printing; high surface/volume ratio; collective electron resonances, the so-called plasma waves enabling surface plasmon resonance (SPR), and interactions with the electromagnetic field; a huge enhancement of diffusivity of the surface atoms; and above all, strikingly low sintering (melting) temperatures.

Amongst all of them Ag possesses the highest electrical and thermal conductivity, which along with other properties and factors (e.g. lower cost than Au, Pt and Pd, resistance to oxidation, interesting plasmonic and antibacterial properties, etc.), has put the silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) based inks as the indisputable most widespread nanoparticles-based ink product with the better established technology and the highest production and sales volumes.

3D Printing

Apart from using nanotechnology-based conductive inks for printed electronics, other applications for inks based on NPs of different compositions are emerging.

As already mentioned, AgNP inks (as well as AuNP and CuNP) used for printed electronics can be used for sensing, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and photonics, taking advantage of their unique electrical and optical properties. Nanoparticles-based inks are also being used in the thriving field of 3D printing.

Many promising materials have been developed, especially focused on metal oxides NPs with exceptional properties such as:

magnetic -including paramagnetic- inks (Fe3O4NPs);
inks for printing intricate prosthesis and implants or other functional materials with antibacterial (with AgNPs), antifungal (with Cu2O, CuO and even Cu(0) NPs) and anti-inflammatory or pro-inflammatory (with the very promising CeO2NPs) properties;
or the more complex hydrogels-based bioactive scaffolds that promote tissue growth around them (using “bio-inks” based on hydrogels including nano silicates).

Aegle Technology

Aegle technology designs and manufactures a wide range of nanoparticles, including metal nanoparticle solutions (colloids) with highly uniform particle sizes (highly monodisperse) at distinctively high concentrations. Our AgNP colloids have a level of sphericity and mono-dispersity unmatched in the market, potentially providing superior and more robust electrical and physicochemical properties to inks (check our catalogue at https://aegle-technology.es/shop).

Specifically, our AgNP (and AuNP) colloids provide:

high morphological control and narrow size distribution
high colloidal stability (essential to avoid aggregation and clogging of the nozzles)
A range in sizes: 5, 20 and 50nm are our standard mean sizes but we can adapt to our clients preferred sizes – 60, 70, 80 , 90 or 100nm as mean size with <10% SD

We are experts in the design and production of NPs colloids for a broad range of applications, including for the formulation of functional inks. Our knowledge in this field comes from our direct experience interacting with clients in the conductive inks sector.

Our experience includes different degrees of involvement in the preparation of the ink formulation:

Supplying AgNP and AuNP colloids dispersed in aqueous media (2-5mM sodium citrate for concentrations up to 2mg Au/mL and + PVP of certain MWs and concentrations for concentrations as high as 50mg/mL) and our clients use them as core ingredients of their ink formulations.
Preparing highly concentrated inks following our client’s formulations using mixtures of water, ethanol and ethylene glycol, coupled with the use of dispersing and stabilizing agents such as PVP, methylcellulose, ethanolamine and other more specific dispersing agents.

For more information, please see https://aegle-technology.es or contact us at sales@aegle-technology.es to discuss your requirements.