Monday, 19 July 2021
The University of Nottingham (UoN) and the University of St Andrews are collaborating with Mitsubishi Chemical in the UK (MC UK) on a £4.34m UK Research and Innovation ‘Prosperity Partnership’ to decarbonise acrylic-based materials.
The partnership, which will be led by MC UK, is part of a long-term plan to increase the sustainability of the acrylics industry, with the market for PMMA, the most common acrylic polymer, estimated to exceed $8 billion by 2025.
The project is one of eight business-led Prosperity Partnerships announced today in support of the government’s ambitious new Innovation Strategy. Prosperity Partnerships build on existing UK strengths in industry and academia to develop new technologies, processes, and skills that will deliver economic growth and create jobs across the UK.
MC UK has had a long-running relationship with the Universities of Nottingham and St Andrews on chemical and biochemical technology development. Innovations from Nottingham have been patented and form significant elements of a current programme to manufacture methyl-methacrylate (MMA), the building block of all acrylic materials, from biological sources.
“Mitsubishi Chemical is excited to work with the Universities of Nottingham and St Andrews on a range of early stage technologies aimed at decarbonising acrylic materials by improving atom efficiency of existing processes, developing biotechnology processes using sustainable feedstocks and selective, energy efficient recycling technologies. Acrylic has a long history of being a highly durable and functionally attractive material. We look forward to working with our academic partners to further improve acrylic’s sustainability as we head towards a net zero future.”
About the UKRI Prosperity Partnerships
UKRI’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is investing a total of £19m across eight UK-wide projects through its long-running Prosperity Partnerships initiative. Industry and university partners investing a further £40m.
The new Prosperity Partnerships announced bring the total number of partnerships launched by EPSRC to 47 with a total investment of £335m.
That includes £125.2 million from EPSRC and £3.6m from the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council, also part of UKRI, £167m from industry partners and £39.2m from universities.
The University of Nottingham project focuses on process and product circularity. The aim is to discard less and recover and reuse more, making the manufacturing process more sustainable. Nottingham researchers will use microorganisms to convert renewable feedstocks to the chemical building blocks needed to make acrylic products. Meanwhile, Drs John Robinson and Eleanor Binner will use advanced microwave technology to precisely heat and efficiently recover the valuable chemical building blocks from waste acrylics, thereby reprocessing them instead of discarding them. Using microwaves to depolymerise plastics can reduce carbon emissions and costs.
“Producing chemicals using bio-based processes tends to be more environmentally friendly as such processes can use renewable feedstocks and operate at low temperature and pressure. This research will establish a circular economy in acrylics and aims to be a first-in-class demonstration of 21st century sustainable manufacturing.”
The third side of the Nottingham project, involving Dr Jon McKechnie and Professor Conradie, is to quantify the net environmental benefits and financial viability of the proposed biomass-based production process and product circularity concept.
This will be done using a techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment - at every stage of the project - to better understand the potential contribution of these concepts to net zero emissions targets, and opportunities to produce chemical building blocks for acrylics products from sustainable UK biomass sources.
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More information is available from Professor Alex Conradie on Alex.Conradie@nottingham.ac.uk at or Emma Lowry, Media Relations Manager (Engineering) on emma.lowry@nottingham.ac.uk or 0115 84 67156
Notes to editors:
About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 32 in Europe and 16th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The university is a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally - and our graduates are the second most targeted by the UK's top employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2022 report by High Fliers Research.
We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
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