Bulgaria, a hub for clean technology research

Also thanks to European cohesion funds, Bulgaria has recently equipped itself with an innovative research centre for clean technologies, to connect the Bulgarian scientific world and help citizens and institutions comply with the new ecological standards

“For a scientist, the most important thing is to have the curiosity and perseverance to continue one's studies. At the same time, however, to achieve important results, the importance of having cutting-edge infrastructure and equipment at your disposal is undeniable. Today, our researchers can also count on these fundamental elements".

In the heat of an early summer, Professor Radostina Stoyanova, director of the Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), accompanies us in the maze of streets and buildings of the campus located in the quiet residential neighbourhood “Geo Milev”, in Sofia.

Most of the buildings around us, almost all intended for the scientific activities of the Academy, built in the brutalist style of late socialism and flanked by large areas of greenery, show the signs, sometimes inclement, of time. This is why our destination, "block 29", stands out from the rest of the campus for its modern appearance, underlined by charming architectural details in bright colours that accentuate the contrast with the gray of the nearby buildings.

"This is the heart of our 'National Centre for Mechatronics and Clean Technologies'", Stoyanova, whose institute is the lead organisation of the project, tells me without hiding a certain pride. "The ambition is to create in Bulgaria a hub capable of carrying out studies on new materials and developing innovative technologies to help the productive world and institutions improve the lives of citizens, increasingly respecting the new ecological standards".

In fact, the "blok 29" lab complex, which cost around 70 million leva (35 million Euros), is only one of the three completed in the period 2018-2023 with the substantial contribution of the European Fund for Regional Development. Two other hubs have been created in the Bulgarian capital, one managed by the University of Sofia “Sv. Kliment Ohridski”, the other by the Technical University of Sofia.

“The project brought together 17 scientific partners, including several universities and institutes of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS)”, explains Tsvetelina Vladimirova, in charge of monitoring the project, who accompanies us along the long corridors of the “block”, where the labs overlook a total area of ​​approximately 1800 square metres.

“The project has several objectives: in addition to making new infrastructure and equipment available to researchers, there is also the less visible, but equally important, objective of improving and strengthening cooperation between the country's scientific institutions”, adds Vladimirova. “The project partners themselves outlined the overall strategy to carry out the planned activities”.

New catalyst technologies

We enter the labs: some are still being set up, in others machinery and equipment are diligently carrying out their analysis operations, in others researchers are checking the results of ongoing experiments on the monitors.

“As mentioned, the underlying theme of the research here is the creation of clean technologies”, reiterates Stoyanova. “At the moment, we are focusing on some specific lines of study. An extremely important one is the improvement and creation of new catalyst technologies, to make the use and consumption of fuels and industrial products less impactful on the atmosphere and the environment in general".

To achieve concrete objectives, BAS scientists now have new and powerful tools at their disposal, such as a field emission electron microscope: a device, in this case produced in Italy, which allows a previously unachievable depth analysis, and which can be used in different fields of study, ranging from the analysis of electronic materials to archeology studies. There are few microscopes of this type available to scientists: this is the only one in Bulgaria, and there are just five installed in all of Europe.

We move on to other labs, such as the one for catalytic technologies, where not only materials are studied, but also the organic substances present in the atmosphere, or the one for the study of crystals.

In the area of ​​working methods there is an ongoing experiment: it is coordinated by Oleg Lagunov, a researcher who has been studying catalytic materials for about ten years. “The objective is to identify the most promising catalyst materials, which once discovered can be introduced into industrial production processes”, explains Lagunov, who then focuses on the overall effects of the creation of the “National Centre” on the quality of his work.

“The new centre and the new labs certainly create a better situation for research. Not only for the undeniable advantage of working in a new structure and using cutting-edge equipment, but also because more labs are now located in the same building, and this makes it much easier to coordinate your efforts with other researchers".

New generation batteries

We arrive in the synthesis lab: here the efforts of one of the most ambitious scientific objectives currently pursued by the centre are concentrated, the study and production of new generation batteries, capable of replacing those currently in use. A challenge that sees Professor Stoyanova, a specialist in the sector, as the protagonist.

“The most promising technology seems to be that of sodium ion batteries, which could in the near future replace the more expensive and unstable lithium ion batteries”, explains the scientist.

At the moment, in fact, there is an actual race to develop sodium ion batteries. Sodium is infinitely more abundant than lithium, which especially for Europe is hard to come by and expensive. The new generation sodium ion batteries potentially have a further, significant advantage: instead of graphite, they use activated carbon, which can be obtained from waste materials with a dual advantage, lower prices and the possibility of inserting recycled materials in the production process.

“It is difficult to say how long it will take for new batteries to be perfected and put on the market: the bet is to get there within a few years. The race is underway, and whoever arrives first will certainly enjoy enormous advantages”, says Stoyanova with conviction.

The project has had important repercussions on the research and employment possibilities of Bulgarian scholars: by 2023, the centre has employed 175 scientists in various research fields, a result that has exceeded expectations.

Some of them are young people, an important element in the effort to maintain important intellectual resources in Bulgaria. “It is difficult to give precise figures, but at the moment around 250 researchers have access to the new labs”, explains Vladimirova.

Connection with the productive world

During the first phase, which began in 2018 and ended in 2023, efforts focused on the physical construction of the new centres and new infrastructures. Quite a few challenges have been faced since the beginning of the project: the Covid pandemic significantly slowed down progress and made the mobility of researchers difficult. The renovation of the structures was also slowed down by the not always functional public procurement mechanisms

“In the second phase, which has recently begun, the objective is to make the centre financially sustainable, creating long-lasting and stable collaborations with the productive world, making innovation available in exchange for financial resources”, explains Vladimirova. Naturally, she then adds, "possible cooperation with institutions is also viewed with great interest: much of the research carried out not only has economic and productive potential, but can also improve the living standards of Bulgarian citizens".

However, creating a solid relationship with the productive world is not easy. The researchers and labs of the Technical University, traditionally focused on research linked to immediate practical objectives, currently have the greatest potential. For those in the Academy of Sciences, oriented towards "pure" scientific research, this process is less immediate and simple.

“To increase our ability to create links with the outside, the idea was to associate partners in an NGO which appears as the eighteenth project partner but has the role of coordination”, explains Vladimirova. “It has the task of acting as a driving force for the centre's activities and developing a marketing strategy capable of making the activities carried out here visible and attractive to the outside world”.

Some results have already arrived: there are active contacts with the business world, for example with a Bulgarian company that produces cement, but also with an American company. “But we are only at the beginning, and there is still a lot of work to do”, admits Vladimirova.

However, the conditions for potential success are all there. “The new framework of infrastructure and equipment of the centre has laid the foundations for the creation of at least 600 scientific publications”, explains Professor Stoyanova proudly again. “Of these, 125 have found space in quartile 'Q1' which includes the most prestigious journals in the field with the highest number of citations”.