Creating new types of catalysts from metal-eating plants: Claude Grison named European Inventor Award 2022 finalist
- French scientist Claude Grison is nominated for the European Patent Office (EPO) prize for her method of creating metal catalysts from plants used for cleaning contaminated soils
- Her invention involves first using plants to absorb heavy metals from contaminated soils and then preparing the resulting ‘ecocatalysts' from the plant
- Some of these ecocatalysts have been shown to be more effective than normal catalysts and have led to collaborations with chemical, pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies
Munich, 17 May 2022 - The European Patent Office (EPO) announces that French scientist, University professor and CNRS research director Claude Grison has been nominated for the European Inventor Award 2022 for her method of harvesting heavy metals from pollution-eating plants and turning them into catalysts for chemical reactions. Not only does this open up a new source for obtaining chemical catalysts, but also helps to clean up soil contaminated by industries such as mining.
Grison sees her invention as part of the growing ‘green chemistry' industry, which aims to reduce or remove hazardous chemicals in chemical processes. By using plants to remediate soils and then using the harvested catalysts to create new molecules Grison's work spans two different fields of research - ecology and green chemistry.
"Claude Grison has provided a promising solution to help industry reduce its environmental impact and to develop a green approach for the chemical industry," says EPO President António Campinos, announcing the finalists. "Her invention also shows how through the effective cooperation between different research fields, sustainability in heavy industries can be effectively promoted to satisfy both its economic needs and the pressing need for greater ecological consideration."
The French inventor is named as one of three finalists for the European Inventor Award in the "Research" category, which recognises inventions coming from pioneering research. The winners of the 2022 edition of the EPO's European Inventor Award will be announced at a virtual ceremony on 21 June.
Catalysts from plants
A specialist in the chemistry of living organisms and one of France's youngest professors, Grison had little interest in studying catalysts at the start of her career. Things changed in 2008 when some of her students asked her if it was possible for plants to repair the man-made pollution of mine sites, which piqued her curiosity. She discussed the question with her CNRS colleague José Escarré, a France-based botanist who had discovered that some plants had adapted to thrive in polluted soil. These plants not only tolerated the metal elements found in the soil, but absorbed them for storage in their roots and leaves - a process called phytoextraction.
Together, Grison and Escarré launched an experiment to see if it was feasible to remediate polluted soil by using plants to both extract metals and subsequently re-enrich the soil. They used two plant species, one that could tolerate and accumulate zinc, cadmium and nickel, and other that could enrich the soil with nitrogen, an essential part of the soil ecosystem. Early results were encouraging and led to a new study on the island of New Caledonia, a place known for both its biodiversity and intensive nickel-mining industry.
Once Grison and her team had successfully demonstrated that ‘phytoextraction' worked - a process that took nearly a decade - the question was whether it could be financially viable.
Zinc, nickel and other types of heavy metals accumulated by plants are already used in commercial, man-made catalysts. Grison understood that if she could extract the metals from the plants' roots and leaves, she could unlock a new source of chemical catalysts.
"My idea was to bring an economic dimension to phytotechnologies of remediation," says Grison. "Contaminated plants did not become waste, but a solution for the depletion of metals resources."
Few in the scientific community believed that these metal elements could be harvested and used at scale. Grison, however, was convinced that it was possible. She came up with a method to treat the plant's leaves or roots at high temperatures to remove all the organic matter, leaving only the metal salts, and then further treat the metals to become catalysts in chemical reactions.
In 2011, Grison applied for a European patent for her method for extracting metals to produce catalysts, enabling her to commercialise her work and transform her innovation into a key technology for a sustainable future.
New molecules
When analysing the plant-derived catalysts - which she named ecocatalysts - Grison and her team found their microstructures were new to them and would interact with molecules in a different way than regular catalysts do. In terms of yield, they also found that some of the ecocatalysts had the potential to better target and perform their work on molecules than conventional catalysts,.
Ecocatalysts can be used to create several chemical products with potential market applications, such as monomers for biodegradable plastics, antimitotics (used in cancer treatment), capped DNA and RNA, cosmetics and key intermediates for fine chemistry. So far, Grison's team has synthesised more than 5000 biomolecules using ecocatalysts, which are starting to be commercialised through BioInspir, a company Grison set up in 2020 in partnership with the start-up studio Technofounders. By September 2020 the company had secured nearly EUR 1 million to support its first commercial phase. BioInspir focuses on producing molecules through ecocatalysis for use in industry and it currently markets around 60 molecules, with more being developed each week.
In January 2021 Grison established Laboratoires Bioprotection, also in partnership with Technofounders. The company aims to commercialise an anti-mosquito repellent called Crusoe which has ingredients that can be made by ecocatalysis. The repellent is expected to be significantly more effective than all existing products on the market in tropical and temperate zones.
In 2020, the global green chemicals market revenue stood at EUR 8.6 billion (USD 9.4 billion) and is anticipated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8.9% between 2020-2030.
Notes to the editor
About the inventor
Claude Grison graduated with a PhD in Molecular Chemistry from the University of Lorraine, France in 1987. Between 1994 and 2003 she was a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Nancy and from 2008 to 2013 at the University of Montpellier before accepting her current position at the CNRS (also at Montpellier) in 2016. In her academic career she has published 211 academic papers (including 25 book chapters) and supervised 26 PhD students. Grison has won multiple awards, including the Medal of Innovation from "Montpellier Excellence University" 2020 and won the Suez Fondation's prize of « Agir pour la Ressource en eau » program in 2018. She was awarded France's Legion of Honour (Chevalier class) in 2015 and was elected as a Member of the European Academy of Sciences in 2021. She is also a member of France's National Academy of Pharmacy.
Claude Grison is named inventor of European patent EP2504096B1 (granted 2019), co-owned by the CNRS and the University of Montpellier.
About the European Inventor Award
The European Inventor Award is one of Europe's most prestigious innovation prizes. Launched by the EPO in 2006, the award honours individuals and teams' solutions to some of the biggest challenges of our times. The finalists and winners are selected by an independent jury comprising former Award finalists. Together, they examine the proposals for their contribution towards technical progress, social and sustainable development and economic prosperity. The EPO will confer the Award in four categories (Industry, Research, SMEs and Non-EPO countries), as well as announcing a Lifetime achievement award at a virtual ceremony on 21 June. In addition, the public selects the Popular Prize winner from the 13 finalists by voting on the EPO website in the run-up to the ceremony. Voting is open until 21 June 2022. Read more on the European Inventor Award eligibility and selection criteria.
This year, for the first time, the EPO will also award bright young minds with the Young Inventors prize. The new prize offers a monetary reward to the three finalists to further encourage them to find creative solutions to pressing sustainable development challenges.
About the EPO
With 6 400 staff, the European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the largest public service institutions in Europe. Headquartered in Munich with offices in Berlin, Brussels, The Hague and Vienna, the EPO was founded with the aim of strengthening co-operation on patents in Europe. Through the EPO's centralised patent granting procedure, inventors are able to obtain high-quality patent protection in up to 44 countries, covering a market of some 700 million people. The EPO is also the world's leading authority in patent information and patent searching.
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