Ecocatalysis: transforming plants into pollution-reducing filters

The "Eaux végétales" project proposes a new system for cleaning up effluents contaminated with metals. It consists of a filter made from eco-materials rich in phenolic acids. The eco-materials are derived from the rhizomes of endemic aquatic plants produced in Occitanie, or from invasive plants harvested on a large scale in the natural environment to control their growth. The project involves transferring the research results to a pilot demonstration process tested at the large Malines mining site (Gard – 30).

Early management of polluted water is proposed by pumping water out of mining tunnels through a direct passage over a plant filter before it enters the current basin. The "Eaux végétales" project is an R&D project aimed at creating a long-term partnership between public research and industry. It brings together various partners with complementary activities: the Bio-inspired Chemistry and Ecological Innovations Laboratory (ChimEco, UMR 5021 CNRS – University of Montpellier), which developed the technology, the Klorane Botanical Foundation (81), which will promote the process developed, the company CNR – Compagnie National du Rhône (30) and the Suez Foundation.

Two joint associations for the development and management of watersheds (the Etablissement Public Territorial de Bassin des Gardons and the Syndicat Mixte Ganges – Le Vigan) are also involved in harvesting invasive aquatic plants and studying their potential for use in the process.
Ecocatalysis, an innovative ecological solution

The laboratory's activities are based on an unusual combination of environment, ecology, and chemistry. This original approach has given rise to a new field of interdisciplinary research, ecocatalysis. Plants generated by phytoextraction and rhizofiltration are valorized through an innovative ecological recycling concept. Taking advantage of the remarkable adaptive capacity of certain plants used to hyperaccumulate primary or strategic metals, the concept is based on the direct use of plant-derived metal species as reagents and catalysts for fine organic chemical reactions. Ecocatalysis offers the first prospect of valorizing this unique biomass and initiates a new branch of green chemistry.

Beneficiary: CNRS

Description of the structure:
The Bio-inspired Chemistry and Ecological Innovations Laboratory, known as ChimEco, is a joint unit that brings together researchers and engineers from the CNRS and a teacher-researcher from the University of Montpellier. As its activities are highly valued in industry, half of the researchers are funded by industrial contracts. It is located in the Cap Delta business center in the Montpellier metropolitan area, in the heart of the Euromédecine Park biopole.
Its activities are based on an unusual combination of phytotechnologies adapted to depollution, the ecological rehabilitation of degraded sites (soil and water), and the enhancement of these processes through innovative and bio-inspired sustainable chemistry, known as ecocatalysis. The results obtained should contribute to the development of current scientific, economic, and environmental priorities for ecological innovation.

Theme: Research – Ecology

Project summary and objective: The project consists of testing an innovative water decontamination process as part of an interdisciplinary and ecological approach.

European fund: European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

TVDICI platform
, July 1, 2021