A new international project focused on decontamination has started

Some time ago, we published news of a major award for COUNTERFOG technology, which enables rapid, mass and efficient decontamination - even of large objects such as ambulances (News of 14 February 2023).

The general urgency of the topic of decontamination, supported by the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, has now given rise to a new international project, StBernard, funded by the European grant company Horizon Europa. 19 institutions across Europe are involved in the project and their decontamination topics range from the detection of contaminated environments, e.g. by drones, to the chemical analysis of toxic substances, rescue work and decontamination itself. And not only surfaces, but also people and animals, e.g. rescue animals. This is what gave the project its specific name.

The Institute of Inorganic Chemistry (IIC) of the CAS is one of the institutions that will participate in the project. Its task is to develop nanotechnologies for the capture and chemical degradation of pollutants. This will include, for example, nanomaterials for sorption, reactive sorbents for the degradation of pesticides and highly toxic substances. It will also deal with the degradation of chemical or biological warfare agents or the elimination of radionuclide contamination. The institution has the advantage of being able to work not only on a laboratory scale, but also to scale up experiments to high volumes. This is made possible by the local so-called Pilot Centre, where reactions can be carried out in volumes of around 100 litres. The institute also has a wide range of instrumentation with which to monitor reactions and characterise products in depth.

The IIC is not the only institution involved in the Czech Republic. An indispensable link is also the Military Research Institute (VVU) in Brno, which is also authorized to work with chemical warfare agents. It has a special military training facility in Vyškov, about 50 km from Brno, where testing of hazardous substances is carried out.

Dr. Petra Ecorchard, one of the project leaders in the Czech Republic, commented on the progress of the project on behalf of the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry of the CAS: "We are now at the stage where syntheses have been made on a smaller and larger scale and screening tests for chemical warfare agents will be done at the VVU. Some of the substances will also be sent to Spain where tests for biological warfare agents will be carried out."

VIDEO presenting the project

PROJECT EVENTS - WILL BE UPDATED CONTINUOUSLY:

• Kick-off meeting, 19-20 September 2023, Colegio de Nuestra Señora. Avda. Europa, 100. Valdemoro

1. COUNTERFOG EBT DE LA UAH S.L. (Spain; Coordinator)
2. UNIVERSIDAD DE ALCALA (ES; Partner)
3. Fundación para la Investigación Biomédica del Hospital Universitario La Paz (Spain; Affiliated)
4. NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND GALWAY (Ireland; Partner)
5. AIT AUSTRIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY GMBH (AT; Partner)
6. WOJSKOWA AKADEMIA TECHNICZNA IM JAROSLAWA DABROWSKIEWO (PL; Partner)
7. USTAV ANORGANICKE CHEMIE, AV CR, V. V. I. (CZ; Partner)
8. AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS (ES; Partner)
9. KENTRO MELETON ASFALEIAS (EL; Partner)
10. JOANNEUM RESEARCH FORSCHUNGSGESELLSCHAFT MBI... (AT; Partner)
11. MIRION TECHNOLOGIES (MGPI) SAS (France; Partner)
12. SAINT GEORGE TECH LTD (UK; Partner)
13. San Jorge Technológicas S.L. (Spain; Affiliated)
14. Veproil Ltd (Hungary; Partner)
15. MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR (Finland; Partner)
16. ASSOCIATION PEGASE (FR; Partner)
17. FUNDACION DE LA COMUNIDAD VALENCIANA PARA LA PROMOCION ESTRATEGICA DESARROLLO Y LA INNOVACION URBANA FUNDACION (ES; Partner)
18. ESCUELA ESPANOLA DE SALVAMENTO Y DETTECION CON PERROS... (Spain; Partner)
19. HELLENIC POLICE (EL; Partner)