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Colloids supporting joint research with GEIC

19 Oct '19

2 min read

Pic: Colloids Group

Colloids Group, manufacturer of innovative masterbatches, compounds, and performance enhancing additives, is financing a joint collaborative PhD research project with the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) at the University of Manchester. The centre specialises in the rapid development and scale up of graphene and other 2D materials applications.

The centre also focuses on several application areas to rapidly accelerate the development and commercialisation of new graphene technologies.

The GEIC is an industry-led innovation centre, designed to work in collaboration with industry partners to create, test and optimise new concepts for delivery to market, along with the processes required for scale up and supply chain integration.

Phase one of this collaborative project was successfully completed within 12 months. Phase two, which is about to start, is expected to be a three to four-year research project. For this next phase, Colloids is funding and supporting a full time PhD researcher who will be based at University of Manchester with the Advanced Nanomaterials Group led by Dr. Mark A Bissett and Professor Ian A Kinloch. The PhD researcher will also be working with and supervised by key Colloids’ R and D people involved in the project.

The potential benefits of 2D thermoplastic nanocomposites have long been recognised. The project team will investigate the applicability of nanocomposites based on graphene and other two-dimensional (2D) materials to a broad range of thermoplastic materials, including polyolefins, polyamides and polyesters, and to understand how mechanical, thermal, electrical, rheological and gas-barrier properties (among others) are affected by the production process and by the materials used. The main goal of this collaborative PhD research project is to develop and upscale new polymer-graphene nanocomposites with enhanced properties and multifunctional capabilities that are not currently available.

Key target markets for ‘next generation’ graphene nanocomposite Colloids products include automotive, aerospace, electronics and electrical.

As the research project is through Graphene@Manchester, the collaborative project team benefits from access to the extensive graphene research facilities at the University of Manchester: the National Graphene Institute (NGI), the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC), and the Henry Royce Institute.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (SV)