Resonant Acoustic Mixing facility for sustainable chemical manufacturing

The aim of this RAM Facility, to be established by our team of researchers in Chemistry, Engineering and Chemical Engineering, and in partnership with Resodyn Acoustic Mixers, the pioneering developer and only manufacturer of this technology, is to create in the UK an internationally visible hotbed of innovation in sustainable processes and materials. It will be a globally unique, self-sustained resource to help researchers and industries kick-start green chemical manufacturing in the UK through innovative technologies, sustainable product portfolios and potentially creation of spin-outs. The potential to advance both research and sustainable manufacturing is evident by almost 50 Support Letters that provide a cross-section of potential users and problems that can be addressed at the RAM Facility. The letters come from a wide community, including senior and early career researchers from the UK and abroad, interdisciplinary centres, as well as UK and international SMEs and large industries. Letters also demonstrate alignment and complementarity with many UK research centres and national facilities.

The objectives of the RAM Facility are to enable and promote sustainability-oriented innovation in fundamental science and chemical manufacturing. This is summarised in a set of Science and Technology Challenges that will advance mechanochemistry for clean manufacturing, recycling and waste valorisation, discovery and development of materials for green, sustainable technologies (nanomaterials, battery materials, supercapacitors), and many other areas. This will advance diverse science disciplines (chemical, civil, and mechanical engineering, chemistry, physics, geosciences, metallurgy and materials, and applied mathematics) and industry sectors, including (but not limited to) additive manufacturing, aerospace, automotive, agricultural, chemical, defence, FMCG, food, green energy, and pharmaceutical sectors. Through small- and large pilot-scale instruments, the facility will uniquely support fundamental science of mechanochemistry and enable new concepts for sustainable manufacturing to be explored and immediately advanced to high TRLs. Only 10 pilot-scale systems have been installed in the world, all of them within industry sites, making our vision to place such a system into a truly "open" RAM Facility, centrally located, easily accessible and supported by dedicated staff, with access based on competitive and transparent research excellence, EDI and RRI criteria, truly transformative and of high impact for new sustainable technologies.