Biobased coatings
for extreme performance
BIO4COAT is an EU-funded research project developing innovative biobased coating solutions. It focuses on sustainable, high-performance coatings designed to perform under extreme and demanding conditions. The project bridges advanced materials research, industrial application, and circular economy principles.
BIO4COAT aims to validate the use of three biobased building blocks – 1,4-biobutanediol (1,4-bioBDO), long-chain dicarboxylic acids (lcDCA), and material sourced from biorefineries. These will be transformed into biopolyurethane (bioPu) coatings and new sustainable coatings for applications in eight industrial sectors: plastics, hygiene, textiles, agriculture, horticulture, furniture, energy and construction.
BIO4COAT will upgrade the existing Bottrighe (Italy) biorefinery to produce the targeted biobased building blocks and integrate them into advanced coating applications. The project combines physical vapor deposition (PVD) for the development of new, sustainable surface treatments with the formulation of biobased polyurethane systems, including 1K PUD and 2K PUR. BIO4COAT will scale up and validate these novel coating solutions at TRL5. The project follows the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework.
BIO4COAT brings together a multidisciplinary consortium of leading European partners. Novamont (Italy) develops biobased building blocks and polyester-polyols for coatings,while Funditec (Spain) produces biopolyurethane (bioPU) coatings, coordinates the project, and validates their performance under demanding and extreme conditions. CemeCon Scandinavia (Denmark) applies new sustainable surface coatings using building blocks from the biorefinery, purified by Aarhus University (Denmark), and tested in high-temperature plastic processing tools validated by Logoplaste (Portugal). ICAP-SIRA (Italy) oversees the potential technological and applications upscale. CERTH (Greece) leads the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) approach and impact assessments, while UNIPD (Italy) analyses the market potential, business models, and training activities. European Bioplastics (Germany) supports technical clustering, co-development processes, capacity building, and policy recommendations. Finally, Kneia (Spain) drives dissemination, communication, and exploitation activities to ensure broad visibility and uptake of the project’s results.
Project Overview
About BIO4COAT
Discover more about the project’s research, policy framework and potential benefits.
Deliverables
View and download all the public reports produced by the BIO4COAT project.
Partners
Discover the 10 partners from 6 countries working together to build a new generation of sustainable, safe, and high-performance biobased coatings.
