Towards bio-inspired water-repellent cellulosic surfaces

The global market potential for innovative bio-based products is projected to grow across various sectors due to consumer needs, technological advancements, and sustainability goals and regulations. The green transition is anticipated to be next giant leap to Finnish export and companies’ competitiveness due to the vast amount of available renewable raw material sources and high-level expertise in utilizing them for novel innovations give a competitive edge to Finland. It is estimated that the export potential of bio-based products and materials will grow by 10-13 billion euros by 2035 and the largest share of growth comes from consumer products and packaging, bio-based chemicals, and net-positive textile fibers. BioCoatTex project aims to valorize the Finnish bio-based raw materials into valuable end-products in all these three aforementioned sectors. The BioCoatTex consortium will consist of companies through the value chain starting from raw material and chemical producers to machinery manufacturers, converters, and end-users. The Co-Creation project will focus on putting together an innovative and motivated consortium, planning the content of a Co-Innovation project to meet the R&D needs of the participating companies, developing the collaboration between the project partners, and finally applying for the Co-Innovation project to achieve the vision.