Dulce Morales receives ChemistryNL grant for sustainable production of bio-based chemical building blocks

The University of Groningen has been awarded approximately 200k€ ChemistryNL funding to develop a more sustainable production route for bio-based chemicals. The project, Electrochemical conversion of renewables into chemical building blocks, has a total budget of about 272k€ and is carried out in collaboration with Circolide Technologies B.V. Dr. Dulce M. Morales, Assistant Professor in Electrocatalysis at the Engineering and Technology institute Groningen (ENTEG), leads the RUG contribution. Dr. Thomas Freese and Hannah Feringa are the project partners at Circolide.

The research aims to develop an electrochemical process for producing bio-based butenolides as high-performance alternatives to fossil-based acrylates, which are used in coatings, plastics and polymers. By combining electrochemistry with renewable feedstocks, the project seeks to establish a more sustainable and scalable production route for valuable chemical building blocks.

For more information, see the PPS-I 2026 announcement of awarded projects and the overview of funded projects.