10105715Understand and eliminate batch-to-batch variation in solubility of cucurbit[n]urilClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UK**Aqdot**, a young **UK-based company**, has completed all relevant regulatory and environmental hurdles and is now accelerating production and commercialisation of a novel macrocyclic chemical, **cucurbit\[n\]uril**, "**CB\[n**\]". Cucurbit\[n\]urils are extremely effective "supramolecular hosts": they non-covalently bind a wide range of chemical "guests" and thereby have potential to provide significant societal benefits in many application areas, with commercial sales in powder or suspension form for use in deodorants, air-fresheners, and general home and personal care. The immediate application for CB\[n\] is as an odour- and VOC-capture ingredient, for which it is marketed as "**AqFresh**". Aqdot has identified and grown the potential markets for CB\[n\], developed the manufacturing process to increasing scale and undertaken the health/safety/environment regulatory processes required for large-scale manufacture and application. REACH approval is currently 100tonne/annum with similar situations in USA, Canada and China. Investment is ongoing to complete the tests required to secure regulatory approval to manufacture and sell CB\[n\] at very much larger scales. The **current product** is manufactured in multi-tonne batches. Early in 2024, Aqdot will complete the commissioning of its first CB\[n\]-manufacturing facility, building on the experience with several contract manufacturers. The small-footprint plant and make-to-demand capability is suited for globally distributed manufacturing (potentially adjacent-to-customer, reducing environmental footprint and with potential for bespoke composition) and will facilitate Aqdot's global growth in an agile manner without requiring the £100M+ investments required to construct "mega" manufacturing plants. To date, Aqdot has had more than 100 product batches contract-manufactured, each characterised by many analytical techniques, including: proton-NMR, water-content, elemental-analysis, GC, Karl-Fischer titration, pH, UV-visible spectroscopy, conductivity, laser-diffraction, and packing-density. All batches investigated fall within the specifications. However, in one or two potential new formulation formats, for which there is very significant market "pull", there are "show-stopping" differences in batch-to-batch performance that prevents Aqdot from entering those markets with confidence, if at all. This A4I project allows Aqdot scientists and engineers to work with world-leading scientists at key UK laboratories who will apply advanced analytical techniques to identify differences between AqFresh batches, thereby enabling **identification and elimination of the batch-to-batch variation and increasing the speed of this UK company to profitable global growth**.