SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

Research Coordination

• The identification of specific mechanochemical reactions (condensations, multicomponent, cascade, domino, organo- or metal-catalysed, etc.) which are currently prepared by conventional solution based routes leading to common synthetic problems.
• The exploitation of mechanochemical transformations to enable the preparation of chemicals that cannot be prepared by thermal treatment in solution allowing to access to new compounds.
• The environmentally sustainable production of compounds and materials of industrial interest by solvent free or liquid-assisted grinding (LAG) mechanochemical procedures.
• The development of new solvent-free processing methodologies and the design of new reactors to allow the industrial scale-up of mechanochemical processes.
• The development of equipment and procedures to perform in situ real time ball milling.
• In silico investigation of ball milling reactions supported by further suitable experimental methods (e.g. single molecule force spectroscopy studies).

Capacity Building

• Entrepreneurs, industrialists, investors, decision makers and suitable research groups within this COST Action are invited to identify specific industrial needs, jointly propose and investigate the most convenient, viable and innovative mechanochemical routes to prepare the identified products at laboratory scale with a view to scaling up for the chemical industry.
• Integration of expertise and capabilities oriented at problem solving in specific areas of scientific and engineering research. The aim of this objective is to create multi-disciplinary task forces possessing the critical mass needed to overcome difficulties and provide responses to selected questions along the entire value chain for chemical production.
• Creation of a European Society for Industrial Mechanochemistry
• Education of young researchers, training of specialised scientists, engineers and technologists, promoting excellence and cross-fertilization among different fields of expertise. This approach is expected to raise awareness of innovation opportunities in the chemical industry which should result in new developments in mechanochemistry.
• Provide support to women in the field of mechanochemistry to take leading roles.
• Provide support to emerging groups from countries with less research capacity, despite the high potential of research development, and favour the involvement of under-represented gender in the topic of the Action.
• Discover and identify new opportunities for SMEs via the interaction with the ends of the value chains
• Facilitate growth, mobility and future leadership of Early Career Investigators, for example through ShortTerm Scientific Missions (STSMs) and through the participation to Research Excellence Programs
• Involve new market sectors related to pharmaceutical, agrochemical, cosmetics, energy, food additives, polymers and biomass transformations.