We write publications and actively sustain the incorporation of knowledge into sustainable products and services. Subsequently, we share the knowledge and insights that we harvest in our laboratory within the EU community directly and indirectly. This means we may help EU-based organizations to innovate and allow students to learn about (developing) cutting-edge technology.
Current projects
1. Biodegradable and recyclable printed circuit
board material
The growing use of electronics such as laptops and mobile phones has now developed into an incredibly valuable and useful technology. At the heart of these devices are printed circuit boards made from non-sustainable synthetic plastics that perform all the necessary functions. The production and, in particular, the recycling of these printed circuit boards is complex, with the circularity of the system as a whole increasingly being called into question. Fair-Fusion wants to use an interdisciplinary approach to investigate whether plastics can be made for printed circuit boards that are biodegradable and also directly recyclable. We are doing this by researching the biotechnological, chemical and mechanical possibilities for incorporating microbes into 3D printing filaments. If you are interested in this research, click here for details (in Dutch). One of our spin-offs is PolyBiotic Solutions who current further developing the technology and produces the micro-organisms in their pilot plant.
2. Corona
If you are interested in the research we do regarding the SARS-COV2 (Corona) virus please read the details on this page. In case you are interested in how you could contribute to research with your very own computer please take a look at the project of BIONIC and Folding@home. You can follow Fair-Fusion contributions to Folding@home on this page.
3. DaVinci Project
The RAAK-Publiek project DaVinciQD is a 2 years project in which the Saxion research groups Advanced Forensic Technology and Nanobio closely work together with the National Police, the University of Twente and several private companies to develop an age dating fingerprint technique. Fair-Fusion actively provides support in this project. For more details please visit the page of NanoBio webpage of the DaVinciQD project
4. Pale Blue Dot Project
The global growing use of plastics seems to have established this material as valuable and convenient for the production of everyday objects in any lifestyle. The production and especially the recycling process of plastic is diverse and complex, where the sustainability of the whole system is increasingly being questioned. We at Fair-Fusion think that we should change this, the sooner, the better. In the context of the collaboration between the University of Bologna, Drenthe College, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), NHL Stenden, Saxion, and Fair-Fusion we present you this special project that is part of a much larger initiative. This aims to foster potential frameworks to improve the tracing and recycling of plastics through the use of Green Quantum Dots.
Quantum dots (QDs) are tiny semiconductor particles a few nanometers in size, where a nanometer equals 1 billionth part of 1 meter. Unlike larger particles, QDs have optical and electronic properties that make them a central topic in nanotechnology, like in consumer electronic screens & lightning applications. When the quantum dots are illuminated by UV light the particles emitting a light of a certain color (frequency) and intensity. When mixing preselected particles with a polymer, or any other material, the objects become fluorescent. Using special engineering, the QDs can work much like a bar-code: scanning the object you will know when and by whom it was produced and most importantly what material it is. With this information in hand consumers and producers can better recycle materials and challenge falsification too.
Fair-Fusion develops a production method that sequesters more CO2 and pollution than it emits, creating a process that is emission negative. By continuing eco-toxicological studies, we ensure with our partners that the use is non-toxic and (bio-)degradable. This is what makes these carbon-based Quantum Dots eco-friendly.
Furthermore, the research aims to evaluate new technical opportunities, such as blockchain, for the exchange of information in a direct and safe way between companies. It could help to deal with some sensitive and confidential data. This new trading method has proven benefits in the economic sphere of the companies that would use it for the creation of a productive circular economy in plastic production and disposal. The project encourages the “cradle- to- cradle” approach of plastic products, creating a smaller and guarding economic circularity.
Raising the awareness and the responsibility on a larger social scale is the starting point for finding the solution to the complexity of the circular economy and realising sustainable systems.