Materia Nova is a Materials R&D Center and a technological accelerator of responsible innovation, actively contributing to the development of solutions to meet the challenges facing society, particularly those related to the energy transition and the deployment of the circular economy.

It specialises in advanced materials, multifunctional surfaces and processes with a reduced environmental footprint. Materia Nova’s approach is based on open and collaborative innovation built around five interconnected services: tailor-made product development, engineering and industrialisation, analysis and characterisation, life cycle thinking and project set-up and management. Materia Nova facilitates the technology transfer from the academic world to industry, enabling companies of all sizes to test research solutions in a real environment, from the lab to pilot scale, prior to industrialisation.

BIO-SUSHY is a Horizon Europe project involving 14 stakeholders from research and technology developers (RTDs), small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), a university, and a national association. It is based on an interdisciplinary approach to achieving high-quality, durable, and sustainable composite coatings to replace polluting polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS).
The coating solutions will be developed under the Safe- and Sustainable-by-Design (SSbD) concept based on bio-based thermoplastic powder and hybrid sol-gel technologies. These types of durable water and oil-repellent coatings will cover a wide range of applications and sectors, such as textile, glass cosmetic, and food packaging.

Overall, the BIO-SUSHY project provides scientific, technological, and societal impact by delivering an SSbD methodology for applying high-quality, durable, and sustainable organic and hybrid coatings as a replacement for PFAS, and it is aligned with the EU policy ambition of a toxic-free environment.