[LUM#17] BioInspir combines chemistry with ecology

[LUM Magazine, Podcast] - Published on November 15, 2022 in Science-Society

After successfully cleaning up soil using plants that hyperaccumulate heavy metals, Claude Grison and his colleagues at the ChimEco laboratory and the start-up BioInspir are now tackling water pollution.

Cleaning up water with... aquatic plants. This is the eco-friendly and innovative process developed by the ChimEco* laboratory, which has created a plant-based filter capable of capturing metals in polluted water." After working on soil decontamination using plants that hyper-accumulate heavy metals, we realized the extent of water pollution in the field ," recalls Claude Grison. Could these very special plants also be a weapon against pollution? The chemist's intuition quickly became a reality, and in 2016, researchers began treating aquatic systems with plants. "They have molecular antennae on the surface of their roots that capture metallic elements."

The experiment took on a whole new dimension when Claude Grison and her team found a dead plant in their pollution control system. "Even though it was dead, it still had the same pollution control capacity!" recalls the researcher. The process then evolved: "Now we grind up roots to make plant filters that clean the water." And not just any roots... Chemist-ecologists use invasive species, which are real ecological disasters in wetlands. Depolluting water while restoring the environment is a real double win for this innovation.

A revolutionary process with circular economy implications, as the substances extracted from water by plants are then used to produce plant-based catalysts. These catalysts are used to produce various molecules needed in sectors such as the pharmaceutical industry. The start-up BioInspir was founded in 2021 to promote these products. The company, born out of a desire to create a different kind of chemistry, is the only one in the world to master this technology, which uses no chemical inputs, solvents, or synthetic reagents. "It's a process with no environmental footprint, " says Claude Grison. It's truly green chemistry, with one big winner: the environment.

photos © Cyril Fresillon / ChimEco / CNRS Photo Library

Keywords: Environment, LUM#17, LUM Magazine, Research, Science, Company