New Polymers from Multi-Vinyl Monomer Homopolymerisation

Branched polymers offer novel material behaviour and unique product benefits; several systems have been commercialised leading to significant market value. Many of the chemistries that are used for branched polymer production are difficult to perform. Often the type of material that can be made and the cost of manufacture mean that materials are not viable for a range of potential applications. Within this research, the programme of science that is proposed will establish a completely new synthetic approach to branched polymers, opening avenues of investigation that could significantly impact the scale-up and supply of new polymers for advanced applications. The programme has an early partnership with a UK company with a track record of commercialisation of UK University fundamental science, aiming to provide a route to rapid economic and societal impact that is embedded into the research at the outset.

Branched polymers are used in various commodity applications such a paper-manufacturing, coatings and sealants, laundry powders and water purification; however, uses in more advanced technologies is restricted by the chemistries that may be accessed in their synthesis. Here, we propose a new approach that opens the scope of branched polymer chemistry beyond conventional chemical techniques, thereby offering new materials to academics and industry.

The chemistry will generate a world-leading position for UK academia and has the potential to generate considerable value for the UK economy through patented technologies, generating a competitive advantage for UK industry

The introduction of new routes to novel polymers may impact widely upon academia and industry, thereby having demonstrable scientific, economic and societal benefit. Academically, new approaches are well known to spur considerable activity. The combination of concepts used within the chemistry outlined in this research is dislocative, encouraging new thought and, as a result, the design of new functional materials. As such, the strategy for generating new branched polymers will stimulate academic research widely.

The synthesis techniques may be readily adapted by global chemical industries as no new starting materials are necessary for the polymerisation, conventional equipment may be used and the cost-base of these new materials should be similar to the range of costs within commodity polymers. Complex conditions which are difficult to replicate on large scales have been deliberately avoided, as have new catalytic systems and the use of materials that must be removed through lengthy purification or regenerated after batch synthesis. Indeed, the proposal seeks to establish both the potential for scale-up (including the production of 500g-1kg samples of material) and the modelling of reaction thermodynamics to predict the multi-ton production of materials using these approaches.

It is expected that the research may therefore impact on a wide range of communities, ultimately across the scope of branched polymer research currently underway using conventional chemistries. This will eventually also offer financial, economic and societal benefits as the chemistry and resulting materials progress through production and into products and new technologies.

To establish and accelerate the development of impact, the proposal has industrial partners contributing >20% of the value of the research programme and aiding the early demonstration of industrially-relevant material benefits from the novel polymers achievable through this chemistry. Full impact will require strategic protection of new intellectual property and a clear plan for IP identification and protection through the University of Liverpool is in place; two patents have already been filed, resulting from the initial preliminary data generated by an EPSRC Vacation Bursary to an undergraduate student in 2016.

The researchers involved in this study will witness the translation of novel chemical ideas through to industrial evaluation and scale-up and the impact of this on their future careers must also be taken into consideration. The novelty within the programme will aid the UK in its leadership of advanced materials globally and offers significant economic and societal benefits in coming years.