Industries and projects

Industries we serve

Oil and lubricants

Today the demand for new products with enhanced technical performance is increasing. FLAMAC has an excellent track-record in accelerating R&D in this field through customised high-throughput experimentation methodologies. This includes the development of lubricants, fuels, bitumen mixtures, and screening e.g. corrosion testing.

Fragrances and flavours

In the past few years, there has been a perpetual evolution in customer experience and preference, such as perfume intensity and longevity. The need to meet these changes has led FLAMAC to create and implement a versatile, automated high-throughput synthesis platform, boasting end-to-end encapsulation technology.

Home and personal care

Many products have a short life cycle, which increases the need for new formulations. Additionally, multiple ingredients are used for the products, which leads to further complexities. Using our expertise in the area of high-throughput experimentation, FLAMAC can generate a large amount of reliable data essential for the creation of knowledge models.

Advanced Materials

To facilitate the research of energy-related applications, i.e. rechargeable batteries, improved light technology (e.g. quantum dots) and solar cells, FLAMAC has been involved in redesigning existing high-throughput experimentation platforms. This allows us to synthesise nanoparticles and apply coatings on dedicated substrates for further analyses.

Inks, paints and coatings

The increasing need to develop more sustainable chemistry in order to facilitate society demands and changing regulations requires significant and continuous formulation research activity. At FLAMAC, dedicated high-throughput experimentation platforms enable to explore a wider formulation design space more rapidly.

Food and beverages

In the food industry, the continuous pursuit of improved, healthier and stable food products is vital. By means of high-throughput screening of food additives combined with stability (physical/chemical) monitoring on our automated HT stability platform, FLAMAC gives food companies better insights into their own products.

Not finding what you’re looking for? We also serve other industries.

Our projects

Current projects

Applisurf project

Start: 1 July 2018 – End: 1 June 2020

Surfactants are performance molecules that intervene in nearly every product and aspect of human daily life. The goal of APPLISURF is the further development and optimisation of an innovative and extensive molecular biosurfactant portfolio. A combination of genetic modification, fermentation development/optimisation and green chemistry will be applied, followed by high-throughput screening, structure-function modelling and the scaleup of the production processes. The AppliSurf project, supported by Catalisti, SIM and FBBV, further develops and characterises a recently established portfolio of innovative biosurfactants. Companies can get access to project results, provide input, influence project orientation and obtain samples for internal testing (against fee) by taking part in the user group.

FLAMAC is actively involved in the accelerated physical-chemical characterisation of bio-based surfactants to establish structure-function models and speed up the development of competitive bio-based surfactants. After this first stage, FLAMAC will use its high-throughput formulation platforms for composition screening and to introduce the bio-based molecules in existing formulations.

More info can be found on the project page.

QDOCCO: Quantum Dots for On Chip Luminescent Down conversion

Start: 1 January 2018 – End: 31 December 2021

In lighting and display technology, quantum dots can bring the combined benefit of enhanced performance and reduced power consumption, and lead to tailored, spectrum-by-design light sources for special applications. However, a direct transfer of QD-technology to these broader markets faces issues with either performance, stability, cost or composition of the QDs. The assumption behind QDoCCo is that a shift from a remote to an on-chip phosphor configuration is the key step to square the performance, stability, cost and composition circle for QD-based products.

QDOCCO is a cooperation between Ghent University (Departments of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, Solid State Sciences (cocoon and lumilab), University of Leuven (Soft Matter Rheology and Technology, Light & Lighting Laboratory and Drug delivery and disposition), Antwerp University (Electron Microscopy for Materials Science) and FLAMAC.

WBDurapaint

Start: 1 July 2018 – End: 30 June 2022

The WBDurapaint project, financed by Interreg FW-VL, aims to develop new, water-based, high performance paint systems with a low environmental impact: eliminating toxic compounds and maintaining low VOC without compromising satisfying performances for the building and transport industries. The project explores further in the direction of development of epoxy-based paints and isocyanate-free polyurethane paints.

FLAMAC plays a key part in combining formulation screening and automated characterisation aiming to substitute targeted paint components with eco-friendly ingredients manufactured by our project partners. FLAMAC’s role consists of accelerating the development of new, sustainable bio-based paints.

More info can be found on the project’s website (only in French and Dutch).

XL-LION: Advanced Lithium Ion Batteries with Dual Ionic-Electronic Core-shell articles

Start: 1 January 2017 – End: 28 February 2021

The Li-ion cell is the technology of choice for rechargeable battery applications. In this project, we target improvements in electrode formulation and Li ion battery architecture by the development of dual ionic-electronic conductor (DuCo) materials as conductive coatings around the electrode particles.

XL-Lion is a cooperation between Hasselt University, FLAMAC, Ghent University and Imec.

SMART: Sustainable Metal Extraction from Tailings

Start: 1 January 2017 – End: 1 January 2021

This project aims at finding zero-waste solutions for tailings, i.e. the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore.

SMART is a strategic basic research project within the long-term SIM MaRes programme on “Materials from Solid and Liquid Industrial Process Residues”.

For more information, see the SIM Website or the KULeuven Website.

Recently finished projects

ACEFORM4.0 (EU H2020, 2016‐2018) Activating Value Chains for EU Leadership in FORMulation Manufacturing 4.0

Start: 1 October 2016 – End: 30 September 2018

The aim of AceForm4.0 has been to strengthen Europe’s leadership in the development and commercialisation of innovative sustainable formulated products by working with relevant stakeholders to establish a strategic roadmap, develop an associated implementation plan for 2025 and stimulating the creation of new collaborative value chains and partnerships in the context of the opportunities offered by industry 4.0 and the drive by Europe towards a circular economy.

During the Aceform4.0 project, FLAMAC has been intensively active in the consultation of the European Formulation community needs in relation with innovation, Industry 4.0 and circular economy. FLAMAC organised, coordinated and animated more than 10 interactive workshops for academia and industry in its facilities and all over Europe during the project. As deliverable, FLAMAC also stimulated more than 10 European initiatives related to industry 4.0 and circular economy for the European formulation community.

More information you can find on the project website.

UPS FORM: Thorough Understanding Physical Stability Issues of Formulations

Start: 1 July 2016 – End: 30 June 2019

In this project, FLAMAC collaborated with two industrial partners from the paint and consumer goods industries and a machine builder to explore the field of stability characterisation of liquid formulation and developed a unique demonstrator platform allowing automatic assessment of product shelf-life. The project has provided a unique opportunity to develop and test innovative techniques such as wireless probes, hyperspectral cameras and acoustic waves. Three years later into the project and FLAMAC has a fully autonomous stability platform at its disposal. The platform is now available to all industries and partners who are interested in product stability testing (see platform section).

MET@LINK: Printing of metallic inks for conductive functionalities

Start: 1 October 2015 – End: 30 September 2018

The MET@LINK project focuses on the printing of metallic conductors and aims at proving the technological and economic feasibility of incorporating internet connectivity in common consumer products.

MET@LINK translates its general aim of demonstrating the technological and economic feasibility of printed metallic conductors into five main objectives:

Proving that inks consisting of silver nanomaterials can be implemented into existing screen print processes. This will involve the modification of the nano‐materials, the conversion processes, the existing workflow, or a combination of any of these.
Proving that silver nano processes can open the way towards new flexo‐ and ink jet applications that have no commercial success yet on the market.
Proving by means of quantitative data that HSE‐issues for nanomaterials will not restrict / limit their use to theoretical showcases without any chance to penetrate commercial markets.
Proving that longer term alternatives to silver nano such as copper and nickel, can break open the cost issue, and convert flexible printable electronics into the truly cheap mass products that are needed to enable the Internet of Things.
Opening the path for post‐project initiatives in the PV area.

This work is supported as SIM ICON project (150078) with FLAMAC as a partner organisation. For more information, see the SIM Website.

PROMISES: Pb-free Perovskite photovoltaic material screening for enhanced stability

Start: 1 July 2016 – End: 30 June 2018

PROMISES focuses on the core material of Perovskite solar cells, especially the stability and environmental nature of the end application, facilitating low cost manufacturing at ambient conditions, with two main activities:

High-throughput material screening to identify a range of interesting materials for further detailed analysis and incorporation in the advanced device realization work.
Up-scaled processing whereby novel perovskite materials with sufficiently high performance and stability are implemented in modules with size up to 30 cm x 30 cm. The operational lifetime of these modules will be validated.

FLAMAC acts as partner in the PROMISES project that combines two complementary research consortia with proven track record in the field: one led by imec in Flanders on material screening and selection and one led by CSEM in Switzerland on up-scaled processing.

This work is carried out within the M-ERA.NET network (Project 3212, Fonds Wetenschappelijk onderzoek – project S000216N).

For more information, take a look at the PROMISES Website.

LIGHTOUGH: Screening of tough lightweight Fe-Mn-Al steels using high-throughput methodologies

Start: 1 July 2015 – End: 31 December 2018

Fe-Mn-Al-C steels show superior tensile properties at low density, which triggered further studies on other engineering properties but also on fundamental aspects. Stabilised by Mn and C, the dominant microstructure most compositions is austenitic, although formation of brittle phases needs to be avoided by a proper balance of Mn and C. Adding Al reduces the density and leads to the precipitation of nano-sized kappa carbides, which, if properly controlled by the right tempering conditions, effectively strengthen the material. Further, Al readily promotes the formation of ferrite, opening possibilities for application tailored microstructure variations, but also greatly increasing the alloy complexity. The ongoing steel design and development process is therefore often time consuming and of limited efficiency. This proposal deals therefore with the screening of toughness, density and strength of Fe-Mn-Al-C alloys, in quenched and quenched and tempered condition. Alloy compositions with interesting properties and their respective thermo-mechanical processing parameters will be systematically identified and refined following an iterative combinatorial approach. In parallel innovative methodologies will be fine-tuned and applied for thermodynamic modelling as well as for efficient high throughput sample generation, processing and testing. The targeted outcome is twofold:

Property and microstructure “maps” as a function of chemical composition and processing parameters provide the basis for future product development.
Innovative high-throughput methodologies enable to accelerate future steel alloy design.

This work is funded by the Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFSR-CT-2015-00015).

For more information, see the LIGHTOUGH website (coming soon). 

PHONSI: Nanophotonics by Nanocrystals, from integration to single photon operation

Start: 1 January 2015 – End: 31 December 2018

PHONSI is a research and training program on the development of nanophotonic devices by means of colloidal nanocrystals. Working at the cross-roads of nanomaterials and nanophotonics, it brings together a network of multinational and start-up companies with universities and research institutes around a research programme combining the synthesis and analysis of quantum dots (QDs) with the formation of QD-based nanophotonic devices for emitting and detecting light down to the single photon level. This work is supported by the European Commission through the Marie-Sklodowska Curie action Phonsi (H2020-MSCA-ITN-642656) with FLAMAC as a partner organisation.

For more information, take a look at the PHONSI Website.

Archived projects

To follow.