10 years of UNamur - STÛV collaboration: a lever for innovation, attractiveness and excellence

For over 30 years, UNamur, via its Chemistry of Inorganic Materials Laboratory (CMI) headed by Professor Bao-Lian Su, has excelled in fundamental research into catalytic solutions capable of "cleaning" air and water. In 2014, STÛV approached this expertise to design a sustainable, low-cost smoke purification system for wood-burning stoves, in anticipation of the tightening of European standards.

From this meeting was born the R-PUR applied research project, funded by the Walloon Region and the European Union as part of the Beware program, led by Tarek Barakat (UNamur - CMI). Between 2014 and 2017, an innovative catalytic filter was thus developed within the laboratory, in close collaboration with STÛV.

From 2018 to 2024, the technologies patented by STÛV and UNamur and the pollutant measurement equipment were gradually transferred to STÛV, at the same time as Win4Spin-off and Proof of Concept funding enabled technological and commercial maturities to be increased to meet market needs. These steps led to laying the foundations for a new Business Unit at STÛV, with the hiring of Tarek Barakat as Project Manager, and raising investments to produce the catalytic filters.

The UNamur-STÛV collaboration continues today with the Win4Doc (doctorate in business) DeCOVskite project, led by PhD student Louis Garin (UNamur - CMI) and supervised by Tarek Barakat. Objectives:

• Develop a second generation of catalysts to completely reduce fine particle emissions.
• Limit the use of precious metals.
• Sustain biomass combustion and make STÛV the world leader in zero-emission stoves.

This collaboration has enabled:

• The acquisition and transfer of know-how and equipment between UNamur and STÛV to validate results under industrial conditions.
• The organization of multidisciplinary workshops, such as the one on October 14, promoting the sharing of expertise around biomass combustion and sustainable development.

At the end of October, members of UNamur and STÛV came together to take part in a workshop organized by UNamur's Research Administration and STÛV. The aim? To highlight the benefits of collaborative research between companies and universities on subjects ranging from energy, the environment, profitability, ethics and regulation to sustainable development. The two partners discussed their collaboration, expertise and development prospects.