ICONIC: an EIC Pathfinder push to turn nitrate pollution into urea and restore coastal waters

Brussels, October 9th 2025

Summary

›ICONIC is an EIC Pathfinder project led by ICFO developing electrochemical catalysts to convert seawater bicarbonates and nitrates into urea and other carbon nitrogen feedstocks.
›The consortium uses non critical raw materials and an integrated prototype approach to selectively capture and transform nitrogen to address eutrophication and ocean acidification.
›ICONIC collaborates with other EIC Pathfinder projects in a CO2 and nitrogen valorisation portfolio to increase visibility and align methods.
›Near term work focuses on building prototypes, testing in complex environments, and performing life cycle and techno economic analyses to judge sustainability and scale up feasibility.
›Significant technical and economic risks remain including energy costs, field variability, fouling and the challenge of proving viability at environmental scale.

Turning pollution into product: what ICONIC aims to do

ICONIC is an EIC Pathfinder project coordinated by the Institute of Photonic Sciences, ICFO, and led in public by Prof. Dr Pelayo García de Arquer. The project proposes a disruptive route to restore aquatic ecosystems affected by nitrogen pollution while producing valuable chemicals. Specifically, ICONIC seeks to capture excess nitrates and bicarbonates from seawater and convert them electrochemically into urea and other carbon nitrogen feedstocks. The stated ambition is an integrated and scalable prototype that can be deployed in affected coastal and estuarine areas.

Project partners and scope:The consortium brings together a multidisciplinary academic team including ICFO as coordinator, the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Research Institute ICN2, the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona ICMAB-CSIC, Trinity College Dublin, TU Delft, the Technical University of Munich TUM and CIC EnergiGUNE. The project is funded under Horizon Europe with EIC Pathfinder support and lists grant agreement No 101115204 on its project site.

Why this matters: eutrophication, biodiversity loss and a circular nitrogen opportunity

Eutrophication occurs when excess nutrients mainly nitrogen and phosphorus enter water bodies and trigger explosive growth of algae and bacteria. Those blooms consume dissolved oxygen and create dead zones where fish and other organisms cannot survive. ICONIC cites that about 23 percent of Europe's seas are affected by eutrophication with attendant losses of biodiversity, economic harm to fisheries and tourism, and risks to human health. The project positions itself as both a remediation technology and a route to a more circular nitrogen economy.

Mar Menor as an inspiration:The Spanish coastal lagoon Mar Menor is named by the ICONIC team as an instigating case. The lagoon has experienced severe eutrophication and ecosystem degradation driven by agricultural runoff among other factors. ICONIC aims for technologies that could contribute to restoring similar fragile water environments.

The technical approach in plain terms

ICONIC aims to develop new electrochemical reactions and catalytic systems that selectively capture and transform dissolved nitrates and bicarbonates in seawater into higher value chemicals. The project emphasises an integrated single system capable of converting these abundant feedstocks into urea which is the most widely produced carbon nitrogen chemical used in fertilizers. Key design choices include the use of non critical raw materials for catalysts and an eye to deployability at larger scale.

Electrochemical urea synthesis explained:Electrochemical synthesis of urea attempts to combine nitrogen species derived from nitrates or nitrogen oxides with carbon species derived from bicarbonate or CO2 in an electrically driven reactor. In contrast to conventional industrial routes that use ammonia from Haber Bosch and then convert it to urea, the electrochemical approach tries to perform C N bond formation directly at ambient conditions. The approach promises lower centralised energy intensity if powered by renewables but faces substantial scientific barriers in selectivity efficiency and stability.

Non critical raw materials:ICONIC highlights the embedding of non critical raw materials in its catalysts. This reduces dependency on scarce or geopolitically sensitive elements. It also aims to lower cost and reduce environmental impacts associated with upstream mining and supply chains.

From lab to prototype and the near term roadmap

The ICONIC team says it is moving into a phase of prototype design and progressively more complex testing environments. The project plans to verify sustainability and economic viability through Life Cycle Assessments and Techno Economic Analyses. ICONIC also emphasises working within the EIC CO2 and Nitrogen Management and Valorisation portfolio to share methods and leverage synergies with related projects.

Milestone	Planned action	Purpose
Prototype design	Develop integrated electrochemical reactor systems	Demonstrate functionality and integrate catalysts and process units
Field testing	Test prototypes in increasingly complex environments	Assess performance in real seawater or impacted sites
Sustainability and economics	Conduct LCA and TEA	Evaluate environmental footprint and commercial feasibility
Portfolio collaboration	Coordinate with SUPERVAL CONFETI and others	Align methodologies and increase visibility

Collaboration, visibility and early outreach

ICONIC reports that participation in the EIC CO2 and Nitrogen Management and Valorisation portfolio has strengthened the project. Grouping with other projects facing similar scientific and translational challenges has provided opportunities for shared learning and joint communication. ICONIC appeared with SUPERVAL and CONFETI at the 13th Catalan Research Managers Forum in June 2025 where the projects presented a joint communication strategy.

What ICONIC is promising and what still needs to be proven

The scientific aim of converting dilute nitrate and bicarbonate in seawater into a marketable chemical like urea inside a single scalable electrochemical system is ambitious. It drops environmental pollutants and produces a commodity, which if realised could help close nitrogen cycles. However several practical hurdles remain and need rigorous demonstration before any claim of system scale up or broad deployment can be validated.

Key technical and field challenges:Selectivity and efficiency of electrochemical reactions must be high enough to make product purification economical. Seawater is a complex electrolyte and may cause fouling corrosion and side reactions. Energy input must be affordable and ideally supplied from renewables to avoid shifting the carbon burden. Reactor durability and maintenance in marine environments are non trivial. All these factors feed into cost and lifecycle impacts.

Economic and market questions:Even if the chemistry can be demonstrated, there must be an economic case to produce urea or other products locally rather than shipping feedstock or relying on existing fertilizer supply chains. Markets for the recovered chemicals need to be clear. Techno economic analysis will need to compare capital and operating costs with conventional industrial processes and alternative nitrogen remediation solutions.

Broader policy and ecosystem context

ICONIC sits at the intersection of environmental remediation research and the EU's broader push for sustainable innovation. European priorities include circular economy approaches and reducing environmental harms from agriculture and industry. If ICONIC or similar projects can demonstrate low lifecycle impacts and viable economics the work could inform policies on nutrient management, coastal restoration funding and innovation support for decentralised chemistry. The European Innovation Council's Pathfinder instrument is explicitly designed to support high risk high reward research. The grant gives ICONIC room to explore early stage breakthroughs but further demonstration funding or partnerships with industry may be required to bridge towards deployment.

What to watch next

In the coming months ICONIC will report on prototype designs field test outcomes and the results of LCAs and TEAs. Observers should look for quantitative performance metrics such as energy per kilogram of urea produced conversion efficiencies product purity and durability under real seawater conditions. Publication of independent verification data and transparent economic assumptions will be important to judge how the concept translates beyond laboratory proof of principle.

Life Cycle Assessment LCA:LCA evaluates environmental impacts across a product life from raw material extraction through production use and disposal. For ICONIC an LCA will need to include catalyst materials production reactor fabrication energy sources operation maintenance and end of life to compare the net environmental effect against existing industrial routes and other remediation options.

Techno Economic Analysis TEA:TEA estimates the capital and operating costs and models revenue scenarios to assess economic viability. Important TEA inputs for ICONIC include reactor capital costs energy costs expected lifetimes conversion rates and the market price and logistics for the produced chemicals.

Final assessment and caution

ICONIC describes a promising and well resourced research effort tackling an urgent environmental problem while seeking to create value from wastes. The multidisciplinary consortium and connection to other EIC Pathfinder projects strengthen its prospects for scientific progress. Yet the path from innovative electrochemical cells in the lab to robust coastal deployments is steep. Energy intensity reaction selectivity operational robustness and economic competitiveness are unresolved questions. Rigorous independent assessment through LCA TEA field data and transparent reporting will be essential before claims of ecosystem scale remediation or commercialisation can be substantiated.

Disclaimer The content here is a structured representation of information provided by the ICONIC team and EIC communications. It is intended for information only and does not represent an endorsement by the European Commission or other bodies. Readers should consult primary project reports publications and independent assessments for technical validation and detailed data.

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